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THE 



HORSE'S FOOT 



AND 



ITS DISEASES. 



BY 

(I 

Principal Veterii) avian of Alsace-Lorraine, Secretary of the Veterinary Society 
of Alsace, Etc., Etc. 



TRANSLATED BY 

A. LIAUTARD, M.D.,V.S., 

Professor of Anatomy, OperatiM Surgery and Sanitary Medicine to the 

American Veterinary College; Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of 

Veterinary Surgeons {London); Foi'eign Corresponding Member 

of the Societe Centrale de Midecine Veterinaire {Paris); 

Honorary Member of the Societe Veterinaire 

d^ Alsace-Lwraine, Etc., Etc., Etc. 



WILLIAM R. JENKINS, 

Veterinary Publisher and Bookseller, 

850 Sixth Avenue, New York. 

1883. 



7*7 



HOLT BROTHERS, 

Book and Mercantile Printers, 

119-121 Nassau Street, 

New York. 



JUL 10 1942 

, ^^cce8slons vision 



PREFACE. 



Having received, through the partial kindness of Mr. A. Zundel, his autlior- 
ization to prepare a translation, from his valuable edition of the Dictionary of 
Hertzel d'Arboval, of the highly interesting and instructive series of articles on 
The Hobse's Foot, which appear in that ■work, it affords us great pleasure to 
be enabled to place the results of our labors before our friends and colleagues in 
the interests of veterinary science in America. Those who have failed to enjoy 
their perusal and study in the columns of the American Veterinary Review, 
where they have appeared in consecutive portions, will now have the opportunity 
of profiting by their instructions in the more compact and convenient form of 
the present volume. 

It is hoped that this work, which treats of a department of professional 
knowledge whicli has been comparatively neglected in the works of English 
veterinary writers, will be accepted and appreciated by our friends in a manner 
fully commensurate with the importance of the subject and the ability with 
which it has been treated. 

THE TRANSLATOR. 



INDEX 



-♦-♦-« 

PAGE. 



Anatomy of the Foot 1 

Articulated Shoe 82 

Bar Shoe 83 

Bound (Hoof) 66 

Calk 52 

Symptoms of 52 

Treatment of 53 

Canker 14 

Complications of 18 

Diagnosis of 19 

Duration of 19 

Etiology of 23 

History of 14 

Nature of 20 

Pathological Anatomy of 20 

Prognosis of 20 

Progress of 19 

Symptoms of 15 

Termination of 19 

Treatment of 24 

Cartilaginous Quittor 144 

Diagnosis of 149 

Duration of 148 

Etiology of 150 

Pathological Anatomy of 147 

Prognosis of 150 

Progress of 140 

Symptoms of 146-151 

Termination of 148 

Treatment of 151 

Causes of Furuncle of the Frog 95 

Chartier Shoes 80 

Chronic Laminitis 106 

Cutaneous Quittor 132 

Club Foot 8 

Complications of Laminitis 103 



u. 

PAGE. 

Conformations, (Vices of) 6 

Contracted Heels 66 

Complications of 70 

Division of 67 

Etiolooy of 72 

Pathological Anatomy of 71 

Prognosis of 72 

Symptoms of 67 

Treatment of 77 

Corns 31 

Curative Treatment of 38 

Division of 31 

Etiology of 31 

Pathological Anatomy of 35 

Preventive Treatment of 37 

Prognosis of 37 

Symptoms of 35 

Termination of 37 

Treatment of 37 

Cracks 40 

Complications of 43 

Curative Treatment of 51 

Division of 40 

Duration of 44 

Etiology of 44 

Heredity of 45 

Hygienic Treatment of 46 

Prognosis of 44 

Progress of 44 

Prophylactic Treatment of 46 

Symptoms of 41 

Treatment of 45 

Crooked Foot 9 

Cutaneous Quittor 132 

Symptoms of 132 

Pathological Anatomy of 133 

Etiology of 134 

Treatment of 134 

JJefays's Spreader 90 

Diagnosis of Canker 19 

of Cartilaginous Quittor 149 

of Navicular Disease 127 

of Tendinous Quittor 138 

Differential Diagnosis in Laminitis 113 

Disease — Navicular 123 

Diseases and Defectuosities 5 

of the Foot 14 

of the Frog 93 



111. 

PAGE. 

Division of Corns 31 

of Contracted Heels 67 

of Cracks 40 

of Punctured Wound of the Foot 55 

of Quittor 131 

Drawing Knives 12 

Dressings 13 

Dry Hoof 11 

Duration of Canker 19 

of Cartilaginous Quittor 148 

of Cracks 44 

of Navicular Disease 126 

of Tendinous Quittor 138 

Jjitiology of Canker 23 

of Cartilaginous Quittor 150 

of Contracted Heels 72 

of Corns 31 

of Cracks 44 

of Cutaneous Quittor 134 

of Furuncle of the Frog 94 

of Laminitis 114 

of Navicular Disease 129 

of Punctured Wound of the Foot 55 

of Tendinous Quittor , 134 

of Sub-Horny " 144 

JFlatFoot 6 

Shoe 79 

Foot— Club 8 

Crooked 9 

Pumiced 7 

Punctured Wound of 54 

Rammy 10 

Soft 10 

Founder 98 

Frog — Diseases of 93 

Furuncle of the Frog 94 

Causes of 95 

Pathological Anatomy of 95 

Symptoms of 94 

Treatment of 96 

vTangrene in Laminitis 105 

General Operations 13 

Goodwin's Shoe 88 

Jieels— Contracted 66 

Complications pf ...., 70 



IV. 

PAGE. 

Heels — Division of 67 

Etiology of 72 

Pathological Anatomy of 71 

Prognosis of 72 

Symptoms of 67 

Treatment of 77 

Hemorrhage in Laminitis 103 

Heredity of Cracks 45 

Hinge Shoe 82 

History of Canker 14 

Hoof Bound 66 

Dry 10 

Soft 11 

Horny Quittor 140 

Hygienic Treatment of Cracks 46 

Inflammation in Laminitis 104 

tiarrier's Spreader 85 

Joward's " 91 

ISi-eraphylocele 43-97 

Knives — Drawing 12 

Sage 11 

J^aminitis 98 

Chronic 106 

Complications of 103 

Differential Diagnosis of 113 

Etiology of 114 

Gangrene in 205 

Hemorrhage in 103 

Inflammation in 104 

Metastasis in 106 

Pathological Anatomy of 109 

Prognosis of 114 

Suppuration in 105 

Symptoms of 99 

Termination of ; 103 

Treatment of 117 

March of Canker 19 

Metastasis in Laminitis 106 

JNature of Canker 20 

Navicular Disease 123 

Duration of 126 

Etiology of 137 

Pathological Anatomy of. .,.,..„... .„•••-» 126 



V. 
PAGE- 

Navicular Disease — Prognosis of 127 

Progress of 126 

Symptoms of 123 

Termination of 126 

Treatment of 129 

operations — General 13 

-Lathological Anatomy of Canker 20 

of Contracted Heels 71 

of Corns 35 

of Cutaneous Quittor 133 

of Furuncle of the Frog 95 

of Laminitis 109 

of Navicular Disease 126 

Preventive Treatment of Corns 37 

Portion of the Wall— Removal of 13 

Prognosis of Canker 20 

of Contracted Heels 72 

of Corns 37 

of Cracks 44 

of Cutaneous Quittor 150 

of Laminitis 114 

of Navicular Disease 127 

of Sub-Horny Quittor 142 

of Tendinous " 138 

Progress of Cracks 44 

of Cutaneous Quittor 148 

of Navicular Disease 123 

of Tendinous Quittor 138 

Prophylactic Treatment of Cracks 46 

Pumiced Foot 7 

Punctured Wound of the Foot 54 

Division of 55 

Etiology of 55 

Symptoms of 55 

Treatment of 60 

Quittor 131 

Cartilaginous 144 

Diagnosis of 149 

Duration of 148 

Etiology of 150 

Pathological Anatomy of 147 

Prognosis of 150 

Progress of 148 

Symptoms of 146-151 

Termination of 148 

Treatment of 147 



VI. 

PAGE. 

Cutaneous 132 

Etiology of 134 

Pathological Anatomy of 133 

Symptoms of 132 

Treatment of ....134 

Divisions of 131 

Sub-Horny 140 

Etiology of 141 

Prognosis of 142 

Symptoms of 141 

Treatment of 142 

Tendinous 135 

Diagnosis of 138 

Duration of 138 

Etiology of 138 

Prognosis of 138 

Progress of 138 

Symptoms of 136 

Treatment of 138 

Termination of 138 

Xvammy Foot 10 

Removal of the Sole 13 

of a Portion of the Wall 13 

RoUandShoe 87 

Oage Knives 11 

Shoe— Charlier 80 

Flat 79 

Goodwin 88 

Hinge 82 

Rolland 87 

Saunier 86 

Unilateral 81 

with Ears 84 

with Short Branches 79 

Soft Hoof 10 

Sole— Removal of the 13 

Slippers 82 

of Joward 91 

Spreaders 85 

Defays 90 

Jarrier 85 

Joward 91 

Lafosse 86 

Sub-Horny Quittor 140 

Symptoms of 141 



vu. 

PAGK. 

Symptoms of Calk 53 

of Canker 15 

of Cartilaginous Quittor 146-151 

of Contracted Heels 67 

of Corns 35 

of Cracks 41 

of Cutaneous Quittor 132 

of Furuncle of the Frog 94 

of Laminitis 99 

of Navicular Disease 133 

of Punctured Wounds of the Foot 55 

of Tendinous Quittor 136 

1 endinous Quittor 185 

Termination of 188 

Treatment of 138 

Termination of Canker 19 

of Cartilaginous Quittor 148 

of Corns 37 

of Laminitis 103 

of Navicular Disease 136 

Thrushes 93 

Treatment of Canker 19 

of Calk 53 

of Cartilaginous Quittor 150 

of Contracted Heels 77 

of Corns 37 

Curative 38 

Preventiue 37 

of Cracks 45 

Curative 51 

Hygienic 46 

Prophylactic 46 

of Cutaneous Quittor 134 

of Furuncle of the Frog 96 

of Laminitis 117 

of Navicular Disease 127 

of Punctured Wound of the Foot •. 60 

of Sub-Horny Quittor 143 

V ices of Conformation 6 

At all— Removal of 13 

Wound of the Foot 54 



The Horse's Foot. 



BY A.. ZUNDEL, 



ANATOMY. 



In our domestic animals we call the foot the extremity of the 
leg, and even only the extremity of the digit, for, considered in 
a zoological point of view, the foot extends from the carpus or 
tarsus to the last phalanx, inclusive. 

The foot of the horse forms an extremely important study 
on account of the numerous diseases to which that member is 
subject, and also of the value of the motor powers required from 
the horse ; the old horsemen expressed this importance by the 
aphorism, " no foot, no horse." This truth finds daily its saJ 
applications in the premature ruin of largo numbers of horses ren- 
dered useless because of the defects in their feet. All the 
qualities of a horse are, indeed, considerably diminished and can 
even be entirely destroyed, by the bad conformation or acci- 
dental alterations of these essential organs. The study of the 
foot of the horse has been the object of many voluminous works, 
such as those of Girard, Bouley, Bracy, Clark, Anker, Leisering 
& Hartmann, Lafosse, Gourdon, Reynal, Defays, and many 
others, to which we refer for the more complete description of 
the organization of the foot. 

This organ is composed of two orders of parts, some in- 
ternalj organized and sensitive ; the other external^ formed of a 
horny, organic substance, the hoof, but entirely void of the 
property of vital sensitiveness. The internal parts are bones, 



three in number, the second and third phalanges, and the small 
sesamoid, which form by their reunion the articulation of the 
foot ; special ligaments, which maintain the connections of these 
bones ; tendons, whicli fill the triple office of agents of transmis- 
sion of motion, articular ligaments and organs ^>f support of the 
weight of the body ; a fibro-cartilaginous apparatus, superadded 
to the third phalanx, and which completes, so to speak, poste- 
riorly, and increases the surface by which it rests on the hoof 
and transmits to the ground the pressure which it receives 
These are the lateral cartilages and the plantar cushion ; arteries, 
veins, lymphatics and nerves, remarkable for their number, de- 
velopment and disposition ; and at last, a ligamentous, sub-horny 
membrane, or keratogenous apparatus, forming a continuation of 
the skin, which surrounds the parts of the foot like a stocking, 
and upon which the foot rests, as a shoo on the human foot. In 
this apparatus are formed : the coronary band, which forms a 
rounded projection at the separation of the skin and the hoof, 
and which serves as a matrix to the periople and the wall ; at its 
surface are seen numerous villosities or papillae ; the podophyl- 
lous or laminated tissue which is spread upon the anterior face 
of the third phalanx, and is remarkable by the sheet of parallel 
laminae which it presents at its surface, which are separated by 
deep furrows in which are received the analogous laminae of the 
internal face of the wall; the velvety tissue or villous tunic 
which covers the plantar cushion at the inferior face of the foot, 
and is the secreting organ of the sole and frog, its surface cov- 
ered with villosities similar to those of the coronary band, and 
like them, of various sizes, and lodged in the porosities of the 
internal face of the sole and frog. 

The external parts of the foot are four in number ; the wall, 
the sole, the frog and the periople. These form, together, a 
horny box, the nail, or hoof, which is adapted exactly by its in- 
ternal cavity to the external contour of the sub-horny mem- 
brane, contracting with it an intimate union by a reciprocal recep- 
tion, and thus completing the structure of the foot, furnishing to 
the sensitive parts an apparatus, thick, hard, resisting and at the 
same time elastic, which makes one witli them, and protects them 



against violuiicc from the substances with which the foot, from 
the nature of its function, must necessarily come in contact. The 
horny substance which constitutes the hoof has a fibrous aspect ; 
it is hollowed all over by cylindrical canals, whose superior ex- 
tremities, widened into a funnel shape, cover the papillae of the 
matrix of the hoof, either at the coronary band or velvety tissue, 
while the inferior opens in the wall upon the plantar border, in 
tlic sole and frog, at the external or inferior face. These canals 
are rectilinear, except those of the frog, which are flexuous ; 
their diameter varies from 0, 02 to 0, 3 or O^"""" These tubes are 
not only hollowed in the horny substance; they have also proper 
walls, of very great thickness, formed of numerous concentrical 
layers, received into each other. These are lamellae of pavimen- 
tous epithelium, wliich constitute the horny tissue ; in the walls of 
the horny tubes, they are grouped flatwise around their inferior 
canals, and stratified from within outwards, so as to form success- 
ive and concentrical layers ; in the intertubular horn, these lamellae 
are not stratified in a direction parallel to that of the tubes, but 
at right angles with it. Around the tubes, the lamellae have an 
oblique intermediate direction. A granular opaque substance 
fills up the space lying between the horny tubes and the papillae. 
The hoof, which is a part of the epidermis, develops simi- 
larly, that is, by the constant formation of cells in the layer 
which corresponds to the mucous malpighian body, at the expense 
of the plasma thrown off by the numerous blood vessels of the ker- 
atogenous membrane. The velvety tissue is the starting point of 
the elements of the sole and frog ; the perioplic band is the organ 
secreting the periople ; and the coronary band proper, the matrix 
of the wall. Upon these different parts, the epithetial cells mul- 
tiply and flatten into lamellae, In the direction of the surface of 
the keratogenous membrane, as they spread from it. The wall 
then grows from its superior to the inferior border, and the other 
parts of the wall from their internal to their external face. The 
villosities of the coronary band and of the velvety tissue are the 
organs around which accumulate the epithelial cells ; their pres- 
ence defines, consequently, tlie tubular structure of the horn. 
The laminae, in the physiological state, do not co-operate in 



a sensible manner with the formation of the wall ; the keraphyl- 
lous laminai form themselves at the coronary band, at the origin 
of the podophyllous ; they descend with the wall, gliding at the 
surface of the layer of cells which separates them from the lami- 
nated tissue, a movement of descent which is facilitated, however, 
by the multiplication in the same direction of the said cells. 
When the podophyllous tissue is inflamed, whether exposed or 
not, its latent activity soon manifests itself. It gives rise to a 
great quantity of hard horn, hollowed, as seen by Gourdon, with 
tubes, and oblique in a direction backward. These tubes, more 
irregular than those of the normal wall, are disposed in a parallel 
series ; they are in form round, villo papilla?, which have devel- 
oped on the face border of the laminEe. In these cases of pro- 
duction of horn by the action of the podophyllous tissue alone, 
^one never sees, between the sensitive laminae, distinctly formed 
horny lamina? in the middle of the other cells, as it is observed 
in the wall proceeding from the coronary band. The horn which 
rises on the surface of the podophyllous, immediately after the 
removal of a piece of the wall, is not a permanent one ; it must 
be replaced by the horn of the coronary band. This change is 
complete, microscopical examination proving that the wall which 
descends from the coronary band, provided with keraphyllous 
laminae, engages itself under the temporary wall, and slides by 
the action already described over the surface of the soft cells of 
the laminated tissue. As soon as this tissue, modified by inflam- 
mation, is covered over by the permanent wall, its papillae become 
atrophied, and its action returns to the limited boundaries of 
physiological condition. — ( Cliauveau?) 

The foot is an organ of support and an apparatus of elasticity ; 
it is through it that the whole animal machine maintains its rela- 
tions with the ground, and that it adapts itself in its various 
movements, so to speak, to its roughness. It is this that, as a 
last spring, distributes aud modifies the force of all the move- 
ments of the horny mass of the body, whose columns, the legs, 
may be considered as the resultant. Intermediate with the body 
and the ground, the foot transmits all the actions of weight 
reaching it, and also between the body and the sensorium, toward 



which all sensations resulting from its contact with surrounding 
external substances return, the foot then becoming at the same 
time an organ of feeling. To adapt it to this triple formation, 
nature has given to it three properties, in appearance incompati- 
ble with each other, which it has, however, harmonized, viz : iirst, 
a very great external hardness, due to its horny envelope ; second, 
a certain amount of flexibility, the combined result of the phys- 
ical properties of its cortical envelope and of the mechanical dis- 
position of its different parts, and thirdly, a highly developed 
sensibility resulting from the liigh organization of its tegumen- 
tary membrane. — {Bouley.) 

DISEASES AND DEFECTU08ITIES OF THE FOOT IN 80LIPED8. 

Of all the domestic quadrupeds, the horse is the most exposed 
to diseases of the foot, which are more or less frequent in him 
according to the work he is subjected to, the places he lives in, 
and the nature of the ground upon which he travels. As rare as 
are those accidents in farm horses, so common are they amongst 
horses in cities, of heavy draught, and also army horses ; in all, in 
fact which travel continually on hard, paved, and stony roads, and 
especially in large cities, where all those injuries can but be the 
result of their constant work on stone pavements, always so rough 
and slippery. If to these conditions are added the very numerous 
accidents resulting from bad shoeing, so badly carried on, one will 
be less surprised to see the foot becoming deformed and altered in 
different waj'S, deteriorated, and preserving with difficulty, and 
for a short time, its state of integrity, and becoming the seat of 
numerous affections. 

We shall distinguish the diseases proper and the vices of con- 
formation of the foot. The former are generally sufficiently 
serious to be described in special part. Amongst them some are 
superficial, as the false quarters, uncomplicated cracks, or solution 
of continuity, thrushes, canker ; others of deeper interest, specially 
the keratogenous apparatus, such as laminitis, with its complica- 
tions and sequelae, keraphylocele, seedy toe, and separation of the 
wall, which may extend as far as entire sloughing of the hoof ; 
accidents then due to the suppuration accompanying several dis- 



eases of the foot. Some maladies are specially the effects of 
wounds, of contusions such as overreachiny, quittor, hruised sole, 
hruised heels, corns, punctured wounds; others are results of 
shoeing, pricked, tight shoe, hurned sole ; others are deep alto- 
gether, such as hoinons, navicular disease, and, lastly, fracture 
of the OS pedis, or of the navicular bone. 

VICES OF CONFORMATION. 

Amongst the vices of conformation some are serious, as con- 
traction of the heels, flat foot, pumiced foot, club foot, crooked foot, 
rammy foot, and, lastlj^ \\\q foot with had horn. 

(a) Flat foot (Germ. Platfuss). — By this is understood the foot 
in which tlie sole, instead of having the natural concavity, is, on 
the contrary, flat, and by its whole surface about on a level with 
the border of the wall and the base of the frog ; most ordinarily 
this is accompanied with low heels, more or less contraction, and 
a well-marked oblique direction of the wall. 

Flat foot is generally observed only on front feet, and is very 
common in lymphatic animals or of low breed, raised in low and 
damp soils. It may be congenital ; large feet, badly shod or 
used up by an exaggerated work, are predisposed to it ; it is 
claimed that the weakening of the sole by too repeated and deep 
paring of the sole will ultimately bring it on; it is said that 
abuse of poultices may produce it ; it follows excess of the hol- 
lowing of the shoe by the upper surface, which, pushing the wall 
outwards, obliges the sole to drop lower than its normal level. 

The horse with flat foot rests on all parts of the sole at once ; 
there is no elasticity of the arch of the sole, and percussions take 
place on it entirely. The actions of the animal are heavy, especially 
as it is commonly seen when the feet are large. When the foot is 
somewhat tender, the animal lames easily, especially if the shoeing 
is bad, or rests on the sole or if the animal is obliged to trot on 
rough or stony roads, which render the percussion very painful. 
There arises some irritation, which keeps on increasing, and pro- 
duces several accidents, such as bruised sole, corns, pumiced feet. 

The horse wliich has flat feet often has weak walls, and as the 
nails of the shoe become loose, this is often cast. 



By shoeing, one may remedy this bad condition of the foot. 
For this, the foot nmst be pared flatways, the sole spared, the wall 
reliered only of what is broken off ; the frog must be left alone, 
the heels also : a shoe somewhat wide in the web, protecting, 
therefore, the sole more than an ordinary shoe does. It will be 
adjusted so as to rest on the border of the wall only, and not on 
the sole ; still, care will be taken not to hollow it too much or to 
excess. Sometimes a thick shoe only is necessary, without in- 
01 eased width. Soles of gutta percha or felt are also used, as we 
will see when speaking of the pumiced foot. 

(b) Pumiced foot (Germ. Yollfuss). — Thus is called the foot 
whose sole projects beyond the level of the wall, and presents a 
convex surface, extending beyond the plantar border, upon which 
the horse rests. It is the exaggeration of the flat foot. In the 
pumiced foot the wall has a great obliquity, sometimes even 
assuming a horizontal direction. 

The horse is never born with such feet ; this is a malforma- 
tion, accidental, or resulting from various causes. One of the 
most common is lack of care of the foot, of necessary caution, for 
instance, in paring, or shoeing in such a way as to bring the rest 
of the foot on the circumference of the under part in such a way 
that the sole does not touch the ground, and ceases to be pressed 
by it. Too much concavity of the shoe may bring on this result, 
by resting only on a too narrow part of the inferior border of the 
foot ; and by opposition, not enough concavity will compress the 
tissues, irritate them, and produce the same alteration. Feet be- 
come pumiced by laminitis, but this is complicated with seedy 
toe. Never, then, is the foot pumiced in its whole extent ; its 
deformity stops always at the limit of the inferior border of the 
bars ; beyond them, behind, on each side are seen the excavations 
of the lateral lacunae of the frog, so much deeper that the heels are 
higher. The hoof does not preserve its circular shape. It atro- 
phies on the side, and presents at the toe an excess of thickness 
in the wall ; the heels assume a greater development. 

This deformity is very serious, and disables the horse easily ; 
rest takes place only upon the sole and frog ; after, laminitis upon 
the sole and heels ; it is always very painful. Work on hard 



ground and pavement is next to impossible. After laminitis, one 
sees, during walking, that the foot rests upon the heels, and then 
by a motion from backwards to forwards. An animal with pu- 
miced feet has a tendency to forge and interfere ; the slightest 
bruise of the sole gives rise to serious complications. One often 
observes wounds, suppurations, &c. 

The indications are analogous to those of the flat foot ; the 
sole ought to be spared as well as the frog, the walls only ought 
to be slightly trimmed ; the shoe must be made so as to carry 
the rest upon the border of the wall and protect the sole. "When 
the foot is not pumiced to excess, one must use a broad web shoe, 
sufficiently concave to allow the sole to rest in it ; but it must not 
be too excessive, as then the base of the rest would not be very 
firm. A sheet of gutta percha, or felt, with tar and oakum, may 
be placed between the shoe and the foot. 

(c) Club foot (Germ. Bockhuf), — This is the foot in which the 
wall is straightened more or less perpendicularly, or even obliquely 
backward, so that the superior border of the wall is more forward 
than the inferior. The superior levers participate always in this 
vicious direction, which constantly brings back the rest of the foot 
towards the anterior part of the wall, and, according to its degrees, 
makes the animal walk more or less on the toe, even sometimes 
obliging him to rest on the anterior face of the hoof ; the heels are 
raised from the ground, and the fetlock, instead of being open for- 
ward, seems to be turned backward. This deformity, which ex- 
ists especially in the hind legs, is very common, and is even natu- 
ral in mules, and supposes, with its presence, high heels, which 
throw the rest on the toe, which is always very thick. It may 
also exist with low heels, especially when due to overwork or 
other accidental cause. Horses which, like mules, are club-footed 
only by a peculiar condition of parts, walk with firmness, and even 
pull better«and work better on hilly countries. If they are unfit 
for the saddle, it is because their reactions are hard, and that they 
tire the rider. It is not so with those which are club-footed from 
hard work ; they continually stumble, are subject to knuckling, 
to interfering, or even to falling ; and for these reasons do they 
always require a mode of shoeing which would give them the 



missing solidity, and render their walk more steady. This cir 
curastance indicates the necessity of sparing the toe, and throwing 
the weight back on the heels, which, however, must not be pared 
off too much. The best shoe for such feet must be short, thin at 
the heels, with a thick toe, slightly raised upwards, and prolonged 
beyond the level of the border of the wall ; small heels to the 
shoe are often advantageous, as giving an opportunity for rest and 
relief. The shoe with truncated branches of Lafosse (slipper), 
which is a short shoe, not extending beyond the quarters, and 
leaving the heels free, is sometimes used. This shoe is very thick 
at the toe, and very thin at the heels. It is unnecessary to say 
that club foot is often cured by tenotomy, or by treatment of the 
tendinous retraction. 

(d) Crooked Foot. — We call by this name the foot whose 
sides are not of the same height ; it may be crooked outwards or 
in wards. 

This deformity may result from a vice of direction of the regions 
above ; ordinarily, however, only from a deviation of the pha- 
langeal one. Sometimes it is due to bad shoeing, to bad paring 
of the feet ; sometimes it follows unequal wearing of the foot, it 
being without shoe. Colts which have never been shod, and are 
walking for a long time on hard and rough ground, often present 
this condition. 

The horse with crooked feet inwards, specially if the devia- 
tion is much marked at the toe, is exposed to cut himself with 
the internal heel of the shoe — to bruise himself ; the horse with 
crooked feet outwards cuts himself with tlie inner toe. Besides 
these, lameness, from lacerations of articular ligaments, may 
often follow. 

This is relieved, specially in young animals, by lowering the 
side of the wall which is the highest, and sparing the other ; tlie 
proper shoe for this condition must be thicker in the branch cor- 
responding to the lower side of the foot. The shoe ought to be 
changed quite often, in proportion to the existing difference in 
height. If the foot is very crooked, it is difficult to straighten 
it by having a greater tliickness of the shoe ; it would make this 
too heavy. Sometimes it is better to use nails with large-sized 



10 

head on the lower side of the hoof ; and in these cases one might 
put on corks at the heels, external or internal, as required. 

(e) Eammy Foot. — This is a defectuosity of the foot, always 
accidental, in which the surface of the wall offers more or less 
numerous circles, above each other and running from one quarter 
or heel to that of the other side. These roughnesses, arranged 
in rows, rise always from the coronary band, and form as many 
elevations gradually descending and disappearing towards the in- 
ferior border of the wall. They are so much more serious that they 
are deep, and sometimes are accompanied with lameness, especial- 
ly when in great number, close to each other, and when the foot 
is narrow and long. These circles are sometimes sequelae of lami- 
nitis, and accompany seedy toe ; the rings then are in the middle 
of the toe, which is more or less roughened, like an oyster shell, 
and they disappear only when the primitive alteration is removed. 
When they are small, not numerous, and grow down without be- 
ing replaced by new ones, this favorable disposition of the wall 
must be stimulated by all the means which may stimulate and 
keep up the suppleness, by light blisters over the coronet. A 
light shoeing, often changed, is tlie best in those cases. Circles 
which reappear continually are due to an intimate and continued 
alteration, and are in company with other defectuosities, such as 
contraction, pumiced foot, etc. 

(f) Foot with had hoof. — A hoof may be too soft or too dry. 
When too soft, too greasy, it contains too much dampness and is 
lacking resistance. Horses which have this weak hoof, as said 
Lafosse, have the foot tender and unfit for long walks on hard 
and stony ground ; they are, besides, much exposed to lose 
tlieir shoes, because the hoof breaks up at the nail-holes. This 
fault is quite common in large feet, frequently seen in Northern 
lymphatic animals, especially in those which come from marshy 
districts; if, then, those horses are submitted to stabulation, their 
hoof becomes dry to excess, which gives rise to narrow and con- 
tracted feet. The lower part of the foot must be pared with care, 
as it has but little thickness ; the application of the warm shoe 
while fitting must be as short as possible. An ordinary thin and 
light shoe must be used ; the nails will be as light and thin as 
possible, and hammered in carefully. 



n 

Too dry hoof is liable to break, because it has lost its physio- 
logical suppleness ; this brittleness is often met in animals whose 
feet have been much in water and afterwards are placed on dry 
ground ; it seems as if the water had dissolved the adhesion of the 
horny cells. The same condition follows the excessive use of 
poultices and also of strong grease in shape of ointments. It is 
wise to grease, but previously the old crust must be removed. 
Hoof ointments of wax, turpentine, or tar are better. The foot 
is called derobe (broken) when by the use of a thick nail it is more 
or less broken at the edges of the wall. These feet lose the shoe 
easily ; animals then go on bare feet, and then it becomes very 
difficult to put other shoes on. It is necessary in these cases to 
punch nail-holes on the shoe corresponding with parts where the 
hoof is sound. In paring, all the pieces of broken horn are re- 
moved, or at least as much as can safely be done. Nails are 
secured as high as possible ; shoes must be changed as easily as 
possible, and the hoof is to be kept supple by unctuous applica- 
tions. When the breaks of the horn are too large, softened gutta- 
percha, or a mixture of gutta-percha, three parts with one of 
gum ammoniac, melted together, can be used to fill the anfrac- 
tuosities, all grease having been first removed by a wash with 
ether ; those putties harden, and the shoe can be tacked on sol- 
idly. Nails can even be punched through the gutta-percha. 

The surgery of the foot requires special instruments for the 
operations which influence action upon the hoof, as also for those 
which are to be performed upon the tissues of the foot proper. 

Besides those which are commonly required in ordinary sur- 
gery, such as curved scissors, probes, bistouries and forceps, others 
are needed of special forms and for special purposes ; amongst 
those most commonly used are the different sage knives and draw- 
ing knives. 

Sage knives are lanceolated blades secured to handles, and are 
either double or right or left. The blade, which is curved upon 
its long axis, may be sharp on both edges, as in the double, (fig. 1) 
or on only one or other edge, when it is known as a right (fig. 2) 
or left (fig. 3) sage knife, being thus adapted to use by either the 
right or the left hand. 



12 




Fig. 5. 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 6. 



DRAWING KNIVES. 



Fig. 3. Fig. 2. Fig. 1. 

8AGE KNIVES. 



Drawing knives, which are made somewhat like those used by- 
blacksmiths in the ordinary method of paring the foot, yet differ 
from those in being straighter in their attachment to the handle, 
and also on being curved on their long axis, being also sharp on 
both edges. The groove of the instrument is made to vary in width, 
and thus can be used as the different steps of the operation may re- 
quire (fig. 4). Sometimes-the drawing knife resembles more that of 
the blacksmith, as being sharp on one edge only, (fig. 5) and in this 
case the groove of the blade is generally much narrower than in 
the others. Some special operations require peculiar forms of 
drawing knives ; for instance, those which are made with a blade 
perfectly straight and narrow, very slightly sharp on the edges, but 
having a very narrow groove at the extremity (fig. 6). These are 
used principally in the scraping of diseased bone-structure, in 
deep punctured wounds of the foot, and in cartilaginous quittor, 
when small sections of cartilage are to be removed from the lateral 
borders of the os pedis, which could not otherwise be accomplished. 

Other instruments are also required, the description of which 
will find its place as we refer to the different diseases where they 
find their applications. 



13 

GENERAL OPERATIONS. 

Removal of the sole (Germ., Absohlen). — This is fin operation 
bj which the sole of the foot is removed by severing it from the 
living tissues underneath. In times gone by this operation was 
extensively performed, being considered indispensable as soon as 
the slightest lesion under the sole existed. It was alleged that 
unless this was done the suppuration would be likely to spread 
underneath the horn. In onr days, it is rarely performed, as it is 
considered that it presents but little advantage, so far, at least, as 
it involves the removal of the entire organ. Sometimes, how- 
ever, portions of it have to be taken off, as in some special dis- 
eased conditions of the foot, such as in punctured wound, pricking 
by the blacksmith, burnt sole, etc., the modus operandi of which 
will be considered when treating of these diseases. 

Removal of portion of the wall. — A few morbid conditions of 
some parts of the foot require in their treatment the removal of 
a portion of the wall, in order that the escape of pus, the removal 
of diseased tissue, or the sloughing of necrosed cartilaginous or 
bony structure, as in complicated cases of suppurative corns, of 
quarter crack or in cartilaginous quittor. A similar operation is 
sometimes required in cases of toe-crack complicated with disease 
of the OS pedis. 

These will be further considered v*^hen treating of these 
special subjects. 

DRESSINGS. 

As nearly every operation of the foot requires a mode of 
dressing peculiar to the manipulations which have been necessary, 
we shall, when speaking of the different diseases, where parts of 
the walls have been removed, include also a description of the 
peculiar dressing they require. 

There is one, however, which is much thought of in veterin- 
ary surgery, and of which we will have to say more when speak- 
ing of punctured wounds of the foot. This is the dressing with 
plates, wliich serve to retain the plantar surface, the balls and 
pads of oakum, which are placed to protect the wound. The 
application of these plates is far superior to the leather sole, 
because of its easy removal when the parts are being examined, 



14 

and of their easy replacement ; thus allowing the surgeon to 
change the dressing whenever he sees fit, without being obliged 
to remove the shoe. 

DISEASES. 

CANKER OF TliE FOOT. 

(Germ., Strahlkrebs, Hufkrebs). — Under this somewhat un- 
scientific, though accepted name, is designated a peculiar disease 
of the feet of solipeds, seated in the secreting tissues of the horny 
box, always beginning at tlie frog, and characterized by alteration 
of the horny secretion. Names of a more scientific meaning 
have frequently been proposed, such as gnawing ulcer (Bourge- 
lat), schirrus or cancerous carcinoma of the frog, carcinoma of 
the reticular tissue of the foot (Vatel), dartre of the plantar 
cushion^ chronic podoparenchydermitis (Mercier), and epithelioma 
of the frog (Fuchs). None of these has ever been accepted, and 
the old hippiatric name has been retained. 

History. — It is conceded that the old veterinarians were ac- 
quainted with canker, and Vegetius evidently speaks of it, but 
not until the time of Solleysel do we find a description somewhat 
complete of the disease and its treatment ; Garsault, La Guerin- 
iere, Weyrother and others spoke of it, and have expressed various 
opinions as to its etiology, and especially as to its treatment. So 
little progress was discernible in the writings of Bonrgelat, 
Chabert, Huzar and Girard, on that very question, and so many 
false ideas were admitted, that Chabert in despair has called 
canker the opprobrium of veterinary medicine. 

It is but recently that serious researches as to the nature of 
the disease have thrown some light on the question, and estab- 
lished the important fact that its seat is not in the disorganized 
horn, but in the secreting organs, and that there is an alteration 
in the products of this secretion ; that it is consequently to these 
that remedies must be applied. 

We might refer to the writings of Jeannie, Crepin, Hurtrel, 
D'Arboval, Frevost, Mercier, Plasse, Percivall, Dietrichs, Eich- 
baum. Wells, H. Bouley, Reynal, Haubner, Fuchs, Rey, Megnin, 
etc., each of whom has furnished his contingent, while still the 
intimate nature of the disease remains but imperfectly known, and 



15 

there is but little certainty either in the treatment or its 
results. 

Let us observe, however, that in our days, canker has become 
comparatively a rare disease, especially in cities, which, doubtless, 
is because of the cleanliness of the streets. In the beginning of 
this century, canker and grease — closely related diseases — were 
frequent in Paris ; then horses were obliged to travel through deep 
gutters of mud, while to-day these affections are exceptional oc- 
currences (H. Bouley). The same thing has been observed by 
Percival in England. When hygienic precautions were not as 
well understood as they are to-day, in establishments employing 
large numbers of horses, when the stables of mail and stage 
coaches, and even those of military garrisons, were small, ill-ven- 
tilated and dirty, among horses standing in filth and soiled 
manure, these affections were relatively common ; with hygienic 
improvements, they have almost disappeared. In the army, can- 
ker was the cause of considerable annual losses, almost as serious 
as those from glanders; to-day it is rare and almost unknown. 

Improvements in the different breeds of horses, either by 
better choice of reproducers, or by changes in the mode of feed- 
ing, resulting from the progress of agricultural processes, the sup- 
pression of common pastures, etc., etc., have contributed to render 
the disease less common. 

Symptoms. — It is seldom that the symptoms of canker can be 
observed from the start ; slow in its progress, and not surexciting 
the sensibility of the parts, the disease may progress without 
manifesting any ill effects, and consequently escape notice by the 
owner or groom, nothing appearing to call his atten- 
tion to the affected foot. Thus, in a majority of cases, canker is 
only discovered after it has been in existence for a considerable 
period, and when serious alterations have already taken place. It 
Is often at the shoeing shop, when the shoes are changed, that in 
the laminae is observed a moisture more or less abundant, giving 
rise to softening and raising of the hoof. The disease sometimes 
attacks only one foot, often several feet at a time ; at times when 
one foot is cured, another becomes affected, and the disease thus 
appears traveling alternately from one foot to another. 



Usually the disease begins with the inflammation of the kerato 
genous membrane which covers the median lacunae of the plantar 
cushion ; the hoof covering this is softened, raised by a serous 
moisture, and once loose, is not renewed, the tissue producing it 
having lost its function of secreting the horny substance, and now 
secreting a serous element, which becomes the caseous matter of 
which we shall speak hereafter. 

Sometimes the disease begins by moisture in the hollow of the 
coronet, by a kind of grease^ a disease which we shall see to be of 
the same nature as canker. There is an oedematous swelling, 
warm, somewhat painful, of the phalangeal region, lirst serous, 
then becoming opalescent, which seems to filtrate through the soft- 
ened, but not yet raised, epidermis. This inflammation, spreading 
little by little towards the hoof, extends to the plantar keratogenous 
membrane, and gives rise to an exhalation of the same nature as 
tliat of the skin, which produces the separation of the hoof, and 
the first marks of canker. 

Sometimes one may observe at once, a fungoid growth or 
ficus, formed by an hypertrophy of the tissues underneath ; this 
growth is more or less moist and offensive, bleeding easily, having 
the aspect of cauliflowers, and protruding through a break of the 
softened hoof, and forming a thready detritus to be subsequently 
studied. Commonly, the hoof is more or less loose, and under it 
there is a caseous matter, greasy, ordinarly of a foetid odor, easily . 
removed by scraping, being non-adherent to the tissue which 
secretes it. If the parts are well cleaned from this, the velvety 
tissue of the pyramidal body of the frog appears to be covered 
with a smooth membrane of a slight whitish color ; the external 
layer then appears formed by a pellucid epidermic covering, 
showing through its transparency the purplish color of the capil- 
laries underneath. The velvety tissue is diseased, but still retains 
its functions, which on the contrary are increased but perverted, 
and instead of secreting a horny substance which adheres to the 
surface of the keratogenous membrane, produces the caseous matter 
already referred to. The breaking in the hoof frequently seems 
small in size. Nevertheless, the alteration of the keratogenous 
tissue, viz : the substitution for its normal, of a pathological 



17 

secretion, whose product is this loose caseous matter, is far ad- 
vanced. There is then an extensive, though a concealed separa- 
tion of tlie hoof. One then must not allow himself to be deceived 
into supposing it to be a limited diseased process, by the apparent 
external integrity of the horny box. 

The characteristic of canker is its tendency to spread, like 
cancerous affections. Once manifested in any part of the 
sub-horny tissues, the special changes which characterize the 
disease seldom remains circumscribed ; on the contrary, they 
generally extend from that part as a centre, throughout 
the whole circumference, and little by little, attack slowly 
but continously the whole extent of the secreting apparatus, 
and thus loosen the entire horny box — starting from the 
median lacunae, or the glomes of the frog, it extends to the 
branches and the body of the plantar cushion ; then spreads at 
the side, in the lateral laminae, from there all round on the velvety 
tissue, then by degrees reaches the inferior extremity of the 
podophyllous laminae and going upwards, reaches the coronary 
band, the last point, where, in extreme cases, the hoof preserves 
its adhesions with the tissues which form it. In this condition 
the diseased process progresses more slowly than between the sole 
and the velvety tissue, and then it seems to remain stationary ; 
otherwise the dropping of the hoof would be possible. 

"We have seen that often at the beginning, but especially as 
the disease progresses, there are growths called tici, found prin- 
cipally round the laminae, the frog and the sole. These are of 
whitish color, opal, varying in size and in shape ; they constitute 
an irregular mass, formed of those fici pressed together ; some of 
these growths have a wide basis, others are somewhat peduncu- 
lated ; sometimes they are single, tubercular, slightly elevated ; 
at other times elongated bodies, true fibrous bundles. The fici are 
nothing more than the normal villosities of the keratogenous tis- 
sue which have become tumefied and hypertrophied, and are found 
principally where, in the normal state, the villosities of the vel- 
vety tissue are themselves more numerous and more developed. 
Where these vegetations are confluent, as upon the sharp edge of 
the bone, tliey are separated from each other by a kind of deep 



18 

sinuous grooves, filled with the caseous matter secreted by the 
diseased keratogeuous structure. These growths bleed easily and 
grow rapidly again when excised. Those most developed, and 
which seem to form a homogeneous mass, constitute, however, an 
aggregate of smaller vegetations united in a certain part of their 
extent, and continued at their bases. 

Besides the vegetation of the living tissues, the plantar surface 
of the foot presents, in old cankers, isolated fasiculi of solid 
horny substance, of thready appearance, soft, analogous in their 
form to coarse brushes whose hairs are glued together. These 
isolated, still adherent, brushes are seen spreading towards the 
sole; they correspond with parts of the velvety tissue which 
have maintained their soundness in the midst of the diseased sur- 
face, and there continue to secrete healthy hoof. These horny 
growths are ordinarily multiple, and are of various shapes, often 
twisted, and give to the plantar surface a peculiar aspect, so 
much so, that their brushy masses sometimes retain the mud of 
the streets and are filled at their bases with a black and fcetid sub- 
stance of an ugly appearance. 

When canker has arrived at a very advanced period, it is 
characterized by the deformity of the whole horny box, whose 
length and width is considerably increased. The last of these 
conditions is a sure sign that the disease has spread under the 
wall of the quarters and of the heels, and has produced the com- 
plete separation of the bars from above and below. When per- 
cussed, the hoof at the heels gives a dull sound. The excessive 
length is only an indirect consequence of the disease, and is due 
to the fact that, so as to keep the animal at work, the walls are 
spared as much as possible by the blacksmith, so as to avoid the 
contact of the protruding parts with the ground. 

Physiological signs are almost entirely absent in canker. It is 
a curious fact that the sensibility which is generally highly in- 
creased in all affections of the foot, even in chronic diseases, 
remains always so obscure in canker that animals may be used for 
a long time without lameness, though the sub-horny tissues have 
over a large surface become quite unprotected. 

Comptications. — Very frequently, canker is complicated by a 



19 

disease of the skin, analogous to it, known as grease; a disease 
which, if not entirely of the same nature, as admitted by Plasse, 
Megnin, &c., is closely related to it. It is often through this 
that canker begins, and very often the two diseases exist together 
in the same animal, one sometimes following the other, just as 
canker of one foot follows that of another. 

Among the complications of canker, as generally admitted, are 
some injuries of the plantar cushion : inflammation and necrosis 
of cartilages, ligaments or tendons, and even caries of the os pedis 
and anchylosis, which are sometimes observed ; however, a close 
examination of the facts allows us to say that these accidents do 
not arise "under the simple influence of the disease alone, but that 
they are due to the improper use of sharp instruments, of the 
actual cautery, and especially of potential cauteries. A.s La 
Gueriniere said, the deep lesions of tendons and of the os pedis, 
which are observed in severe cankers, have no other cause than 
the action of too powerful dessicatives. 

Duration, march, termination. — Canker is an essentially 
chronic disease, and may be of long continuance, even lasting 
for years. Still, under this heading there are many varia- 
tions, whose cause it is difficult to find. There are horses 
whose disorganization of the hoof is complete after two or 
three months. There are others where the disease remains 
stationary for more than a year. We have often seen it remain- 
ing limited to one lacuna for months, and all at once assume a 
rapid evolution of disorganization. We have noticed this princi- 
pally after the use of sharp instruments. 

Generally, animals affected with canker feed well, and for a 
long time retain a good condition; towards the end, however, 
they lose flesh and exhibit symptoms of septicohemina, especially 
if affected with grease. We do not admit that, as advanced by 
some, canker can give rise to such virulent diseases as glanders 
and farcy. 

Diagnosis. — At the beginning, canker may be confounded 
with thrushes, and many veterinarians have considered this as the 
first stage of canker. There is, however, a great difference between 
the two : first, as to the anatorao-pathological point of view, inas- 



20 

much as the pultaceous, foetid secretion is less abundant ; that the 
loosening of the hoof is less, and that there are no fici ; and again, 
especially in the point of view of the treatment,where single cases 
of cleansing, with or without dessicatives, easily control it, while 
canker remains rebellious to them. 

Prognosis. — The prognosis varies. Where the animal is young, 
well fed, and the disease is not too old, it is favorable. Yet it re- 
mains uncertain, as often the most benign form may last long and 
remain rebellious to all treatment. The severity and the extent 
of the internal lesions cannot be estimated by the alterations or 
deformities of the hoof, as these appearances are often deceptive. 
Canker, though considered incurable for a long time, is not abso- 
lutely so, — far from it ; with rational treatment, properly carried 
on, it is curable in the majority of cases. There are cases, how- 
ever, not very rare, where relapses and useless attempts have dis- 
couraged the owner as well as the veterinarian, and where it has 
been more advantageous to destroy the animal rather than to 
submit him to a long, tiresome, and always expensive treatment. 

Pathological Anatomy and Nature of the Disease. — It has 
always been considered that a morbid condition susceptible of 
producing disorders so severe as those produced by canker, must 
necessarily be a deep affection, essential and important to the or- 
ganic structure, and depending on a complete transformation in 
its texture. And, indeed, it is the impression which predomina- 
ted from the time of Solleysel down to the foundation of veter- 
inary schools and which still exists with Girard, who considers 
canker as a gnawing ulcer which changes and alters the tissues it 
invades, and even with Yatel and Hurtrel D'Arboval, who looks 
upon canker as the carcinoma of the reticular structure of the 
foot. 

It is but recently that these ideas have been abandoned. 
Dupuy, in 1827, considered canker as a hypertrophy of the fibres 
of the hoof, admitting at the same time the disintegrations and 
softening of those same fibres occasioned by an ammoniacal sap- 
onization produced by an altered secretion. 

In 1841, Mercier expressed the opinion that canker is noth- 
ing more than a chronic inflammation of the reticular tissue of the 
foot, characterized by diseased secretions of this apparatus. 



21 

It is now known that there is in canker, no essential altera- 
tions of the sub-horny tissues ; no radical change of their sub- 
stance, and no deposit of heteroraorphous molecules in their 
structure. This last mentioned fact was well observed by 
Robin, who in his microscopical remarks constantly observed the 
absence of the characterizing elements of canker. Hertwig and 
Haubner, who have made researches in the same direction, ar- 
rived at the same result and have noticed the absence of any can- 
cerous cells in canker. This opinion is, however, doubted by 
Glisberg and Fuchs, who look upon canker as an epithelioma, 
though they bring no sufficient evidence to establish it. 

Except vegetal parasitism, of which we will speak hereafter, 
and which makes of canker a true dartre, an herpetic disease, as 
demonstrated by Megnin, there is only in canker a chronic in- 
flammatory condition of the sub horny tissues which is manifest- 
ed by a perversion in their secretion, and is complicated by a 
morbid hypertrophy of the villous processes by which their sur- 
face is normally covered. Robin has seen in the fici, papillce 
made thicker and more brittle by the plastic infiltration which 
moistens them; he has observed besides, that at the points 
where the secretion is good, it is so active, that instead of drying 
in sheaths, to scale off afterwards in transverse pieces, as nor- 
mally occurs in the frog and sole, the epithelial cells grow length- 
wise, as those which form the walls of the foot. Hence these 
long, horned, twisted threads (epithelioma?) which are seen rising 
from the sole of long affected cankerous feet. 

It has sometimes been admitted that fici had deep roots in 
the tissues, and even in the plantar aponeurosis, which is an 
error ; injections and macerations having shown that there are 
no essential changes in the anatomical structures of these parts, 
and that what have been considered as the roots of fici were 
only cellular tissue, which has become indurated under chronic 
inflammation (Bouley.) Fici are only fasiculi of villosities whose 
vascular net-work is no longer retained by the thick horny box 
which encloses them and which is infiltrated with plastic material. 

Bouley has already admitted that canker could not be better 
classified than amongst skin diseases, with and after dartroid af- 



22 

fet'tions, and thus gave reason to Huzard senior; Plass alsofound 
tliat canker had the greatest analogy with grease, and that in it 
the nutrition of the horn underwent the same alteration with nu- 
trition of hairs in the second affection. 

Megnin in 1864, observed, in operating upon fresh pieces 
taken from the living animal, and from one which had not re- 
ceived any treatment, that in canker there is constantly a crypto- 
gram, as in favus, and that canker is a parasitic affection. 

Examining the caseous product of the abnormal secretion 
which characterizes canker, Megnin found in it a large quantity 
of very animated vibrios, swimming in a liquid having in suspen- 
sion numerous epidermic cells more or less advanced in dissolution ; 
he found besides rounded corpuscles, which he recognized as the 
spores of the cryptogam, and from which the vibrios escaped at 
the maturity of the granulations there contained. In examining 
the fici, he has recognized them to be an aggregate of hypertro- 
phied villosities, at the base of which were found in the mass ob- 
tained by a slight scraping epidermic cells or parts of cells en- 
closed in a net work of inter-crossed, ramified threads, appearing 
to rise from certain centers marked by an agglomeration of spores, 
forming in their whole a yellow spot. In the water of the mi- 
croscopic preparations, one finds also, several of these isolated 
threads, epithelial cells, globules of lymph, of blood and finally 
spores ; very rarely vibrios ; of tener micrococci. These threads are 
nothing more than the parasites, the mycelium product of the 
vegetation of the spores ; those contained in the serosity, swell, 
break up, and the granulations which escape from them become 
for some time the vibrios, or as we prefer to call them pseudo- 
vibrios ; as soon as the brownian motion, which for some time 
animates the granulations, ceases, the cells which have proceeded 
from them (the micrococci) gather together in chains and form 
the characteristic threads of the mycelium. 

This parasite of canker has been named by Megnin the kero- 
phyton or parasitic plant of the horn by analogy with the tricho- 
phyton, the parasite of the hair. We consider this name very ap- 
priate and prefer it to the name of oidium hatracosis, parasite of 
canker, which Mr. Megnin has also proposed. 



23 

Etiology — The causes of canker are yet but little known ; 
there is one, however, ^which cannot be ignored and which, 
if it does not produce the disease, assists materially in its 
development and is indispensable to its existence. We refer to 
the condition of dampness. It is that influence of dampness 
which explains why the disease is so very common in the marshy 
lands of Poitou ; in the pastures of Holland, and in general in 
low grounds ; and why it is more frequent in northern than in 
southern countries. Canker is incomparably more frequent in 
rainy seasons than in those where dryness predominates. We 
have already seen in the history of the disease that it is since the 
streets and the stables of administration are kept more fi'ee from 
dampness that canker has become less common. 

Sometimes the action of direct irritating causes has been ad- 
mitted, and then the canker has been attributed to irritating 
muds and the excrementitial liquids of stables ; their contact of- 
ten giving rise upon the skin, upon the glomes of the frog, to an 
erythematous inflammation, soon followed by a serous flow, 
which extends to the sub-horny structures and gives rise to an ex- 
udation in the laminae of the frog. This cause produces the rot- 
ten frog (thrushes) but not canker- We believe that this cause 
has principally been admitted by veterinarians who look upon 
thrushes as the first stage of canker, but this is not so, and for 
canker to develop itself under similar conditions, others are 
necessary, which are as yet unknown. 

Canker has also been attributed to narrow and contracted 
feet, so common in horses of meridional climates, and in which 
the sole is very concave with the frog and pyramidal body shrunk 
in. Often in the laminse of these feet a sero-purulent moisture is 
aiscovered more or less offensive, which is a rotten frog, but not 
canker, and but seldom followed by it. 

To produce canker, a simple irritation of the sub-horny 
structure is not suflicient. There must be a special cause, proper 
to canker, stimulating alone the characteristic changes of the 
cause. This cause we find in the cryptogam which characterizes 
canker, propagates it, and which, like other living beings, has no 
power of spontaneous existence. 



24 

As with other parasitic diseases, canker is communicable by 
contagion ; although the examples are quite rare, they cannot be 
doubted. Hurtrel, d'Arboval, Flass, Blind and Megnin have 
observed them, and in all the cases dampness has contributed to 
the propagation of the cryptogam. 

The lymphatic constitution in an animal is eminently pro- 
pitious to the development of canker, as it is observed to be, in 
fact, for all parasitic diseases. 

It is known by daily observation of facts that horses whose 
skin is thick, with the hairy system well developed, the feet flat, 
with thick frogs, are more often affected with canker than 
animals of a nervous constitution. It is more particularly 
observed in horses with much white at their extremities, with 
stockings and white feet, and in those where there is a tendency 
to albinism. 

An unknown diathesis has also been considered as causing a 
predisposing constitutional organic condition, but this has not 
been justified by observation. It may happen that canker cured 
or dried on one foot, may attack another foot, perhaps a third, 
and then a fourth, to re-appear in the first ; this character of the 
disease has often been mentioned a proof of tliis diathesic con- 
dition ; but it may also be explained by its contagious character. 
The disease remains too much localized to be constitutional, as 
generally in diathesic diseases we have critical eruptions upon 
different organs or different tissues. 

Treatment. — From the preceding remarks, it is evident that 
in feet affected with canker, the keratogenous apparatus of the 
foot has undergone no essential alteration in its structure, tliat its 
thickness and density have only increased by consequence of the 
infiltration and organization in its net work of the plastic pro- 
ducts of inflammation. And, again, the secreting function of 
this apparatus, far from being arrested, is on the contrary more 
active ; but the products it gives instead of being concrescible, re- 
main diffluent ; hence the impossibility for the hoof to be re- 
stored in the regions where this alteration of secretion exists 
and remains. These important facts, says M, Bouley, must 
take the lead in the chapter of the therapeutics of canker, because 



25 

they teach the practitioner that the object to effect, in the treat- 
ment of this disease, is not to radically destroy the diseased tis- 
sues, as has been too often done and recommended, but to re- 
turn to them their physical and physiological properties by the 
application on their surface, of modifying agents which influence 
the nutritive and secreting functions of their tissues without in- 
terfering with their structure. To reach this point, the most varied 
pharmaceutical agents have been recommended, the most success- 
ful being those which at the same time had parasiticide proper- 
ties. We however, find it difficult to give the preference to any 
of them ; and we have now more faith in the modus faciendi^ to 
the skill of the operator, to the continued use of dressings prop- 
erly applied, than to such or such agent ; all those which have 
been recommended if methodically applied, can cure canker, and 
it will be wise to employ them alternatively ; when one fails at 
first it is prudent to try another ; canker is a disease so often re- 
bellious to treatment, especially if confined to the lacunae of the 
frog, that too many remedies cannot be used. 

The first indication is to remove the excess of the horn of the 
wall, whose length we have said, is often very great ; and to pre- 
pare a convenient shoe for the dressings. This shoe necessarily 
varies, as canker is exclusively localized to the plantar surface of 
the foot or extends to the prodophyllous laminae. Generally an or- 
dinary shoe is used, more or less covered (wide) and so hollowed as 
to allow the free application of plates by which the dressing is 
kept in place. When the condition of the disease requires the re- 
moval of large pieces of horn, a truncated slipper is used, pro- 
portioned in cutting to the extent of the parts of the wall upon 
which it is to be applied. There are circnmstances even when 
shoes cannot be used, so much does the disease extend under the 
wall. It is then necessary to use a shoe without nails, or boots, 
secured to the coronet by means of straps. In all cases the rule 
is to take care that the dressings remain fixed in the most exact 
manner, and that through them, a methodic, steady, but not ex- 
cessive pressure is constantly applied over the diseased parts. 

The first step of the operations passed, the next consists in 
the removal with proper instruments, of all the loose portions of 



26 

the horn, either at the plantar surface, at the quarter, or at the 
heels. One must avoid, in this operation, the excision of soft 
parts ; but the important indication is to follow the disease where- 
«ver it exists, and to leave no part of the horn which may have been 
detached by morbid exudations. Better cut the healthy structures, 
and have them bleed, than to neglect to completely expose a dis- 
eased part. This done, the horn is to be thinned as much as pos- 
sible, upon the circumference of the diseased spots, in order to 
give a suppleness which would ease the swelling of the uncovered 
parts. 

Upon the exposure of the disease where it exists, the fici 
existing on the surface and edges of the velvety tissues are to be 
removed with the scissors or sharp sage knife ; at the same time 
the parts of horn which may have remained are to be cut off, 
avoiding, however, the healthy tissue beneath, which still retains 
its normal character. 

When the canker is very extensive, so that the wall is loose on 
each quarter, or on all its circumference, it is of advantage to pro- 
ceed in the required operations at different times. 

This done, the shoe can be put on ; after which the diseased 
surface and surrounding horn are to be covered with a thick layer 
of the medicamentous preparation. If this is in form of a paste, 
as is often the case, it is spread over with a spatula. If in pow- 
der, it is thrown over it carefully. If liquid, balls of oakum are 
soaked with it and placed on, the whole being then kept in place 
by pads and plates. The important point is that the dressing 
should be so applied as to be easily changed, that an exact, 
regular and sufficiently strong pressure be kept on. No better 
means can be used for this than the divided plates already re- 
ferred to. 

In canker the dressing must be renewed every day, and even 
twice daily at the beginning of the treatment. This is an essential 
condition of success, whatever may be the tlierapeutical agent em- 
ployed ; and this is not a simple difficulty in practice where the 
patient is not always of easy access. Moreover, this dressing is 
somewhat complicated, and can only be skillfully made by the 
veterinarian himself. 



27 

It often occurs that upon the removal of the first dressing, 
(the second day) one finds the tissues already covered by a layer of 
hardened horn, adherent to their surfaces. One must then, with 
the finger, a spatula, or a dry pad of oakum, rub it off where it 
is found loose and movable and if necessary, renew the applica- 
tion of the dressing. The same must be done at the other dres- 
sings, carefully watching if this new horn thus formed by the influ- 
ence of the medication, is not separable from the parts underneath 
by the different morbid secretions of the disease. One must then 
carefully scrape off all that is not adherent, and thin the edges, 
and the projections of all the horn which retains its soundness ; 
the caseous substance being also removed ; the same compressive 
dressing to be put on again. 

The modification in the hoi-ny secretion, and the formation of 
a layer of hardened and adherent horn, are especially great in the 
parts where podophyllous and velvety tissues exist ; but are very 
slow, and surrounded with difficulties in the median and lateral 
lacunae of the frog. After ten days of treatment, one may have 
brought about a normal secretion on the whole circumference of 
the sole, on the inferior face of the os pedis, and on the promi- 
nent parts of the pyramidal body. But in the lacunse the altera- 
tion remains isolated, and resists treatment ; and it often happens 
that, if neglected it may again spread and the disease reacli its 
former extent. It is then the case, when the disease is limited 
to the lacunse, to add to the ingredient already in use and which 
is kept applied upon the restored parts, another stronger and 
more active agent, sometimes simple absorbent ; here again it 
becomes difficult for us to advise the practitioner, the number of 
recommended drugs being very large and the result depending 
less on their nature than in the intelligent and persisting manner 
with which it is applied. When one thinks to use caustics it must 
be done with care, to limit their action only to the thickness 
of the keratogenous tissue, and not to carry it to the destruction 
of the bone, or still worse, of the plantar aponeurosis. 

Let us glance at the drugs which have proved most successful 
in the treatment of canker : First we have the different pyrogen- 
ous preparations, especially wood tar, recommended by Bracy, 



28 

Clark, Reynal and Bouley, and which give astonishing results. Gas 
tar, oil of cade, petroleum and soot hare also been used, but with 
less advantage ; creosote and phenic acid have often shown them- 
selves very useful, by penetrating easier to the base of the villosi- 
ties where the parasite resides and thus acting more regularly ; 
phenic acid proved very useful with Krause, Gerlach and Zun- 
del. 

After these the best recommended preparations are the salts 
of iron ; Hertwig seems to be well pleased with the powder of the 
sulphate, and Arnold recommends the pyrolignite of the same 
metal ; Megnin advises specially the perchloride, which, like 
phenic acid, is rather a powerful astringent than a true caustic. 
The preparations of copper have also had their time, and especial- 
ly the acetates, such as the oegyptiacum ointment (Girard, Schaack, 
Kainard and Key); the baths of sulphate of copper were em- 
ployed by Verrier Jr., of Rouen ; a solution of sulphate of cop- 
per and of zinc in water or vinegar were recommended by Delaval 
and Haubner ; Solleysel employed the preparations of copper, 
but added to them arsenic and other drugs ; Eichbaum preferred 
the powder of chloride of lime, and Ranch ordinary lime, while 
Aubry employed a mixture of lime and caustic potash. 

Caustics were well recommended by other practitioners, but 
their prescriptions seem to be contrary to the rule we have laid 
down in the beginning. However, one must not forget that the 
tissues of the foot, especially when diseased, ofter an extraordinary 
resistance to the action of caustics ; they are, so to speak, impen- 
etrable, and the irritation they produce remains superficial, while 
where those tissues are healthy such agents produce a deep cau- 
terization. Again, this resisting force of tlie indurated tissues 
against the action of caustics is limited, and it is possible that 
one, two or three applications may apparently remain inefficacious, 
where a fourth or a fifth will give rise to extensive cauterization. 
The result is explained by the repeated irritating influence of the 
caustic agent, which, by gradually increasing the vascularity of 
the parts it touches, increases also the means of their absorption 
and imbibition. These facts must also be present to the practi- 
tioner's mind, and it is by them that he will be guided in their 



29 

use, rendering them at will, simply modifying, catheretic, or deep 
caustics. 

Nitric acid was used by Percivall and Delorme, the latter 
considering it the best means in use. Sulphuric acid has also 
been employed, seldom alone, but mixed with agents likely to re- 
duce its effects and render its applications more convenient. Col- 
lignon and Kenault recommend its reduction with alcohol ; Mer- 
cier mixed it with four parts of oil of turpentine ; Prange with 
equal parts of tar, and Plass made a paste of it with burnt alum. 
This last remedy, very simple in its formula, was applied without 
any dressing ; it has proved most excellent in a great number of 
cases, but may give rise to too deep cauterization (Bouley, Man- 
del). 

Arsenious acid was much used by old horsemen, combined 
with oegyptiacum, turpentine and other ingredients. Hoffmann pre- 
fers the arsenite of soda in solution ; he sold his secret to the 
Austrian government for a high price. Butter of antimony was 
recommended by Huzard, Sr.. Prevost, and especially Huzard ; 
chloride of zinc was preferred at the Lyons school. 

The treatment of canker by actual cauterization was indicated 
by Solleysel, but soon abandoned by him. In applying the cau- 
tery upon the uncovered tissues of the hoof we encounter the 
chance of producing a very severe inflammation, which spreads 
by degrees and gives rise to extensive slough of the hoof, as a 
consequence of the serous exudation which takes place ; the action 
of the cautery may then become either too mild or too vigorous. 
Still, it has been recommended by Prevost, of Geneva. Hurtrel 
D'Arboval, who also employed it, used it in the following man- 
ner : the parts being covered with a mixture of gunpowder and 
sulphur, a red-hot iron was applied to the spot, the powder burn- 
ing suddenly and the sulphur slowly. If the combustion was too 
slow, he increased it and kept it up by the same means. When 
the operation is concluded the parts are transformed into a black 
gear, which can be easily removed by scraping, and the applica- 
tion and cauterization may be repeated, and so on until it appears 
that a sufficient amount of heat has penetrated the tissues to de- 
stroy the material by which canker could be regenerated. The 



30 

cauterization being once properly effected, then in order to sustain 
irritation, the foot is covered with Burgundy pitch, or resin, 
melted and warm, which is allowed to cool off on the foot, when a 
dressing of oakum and the shoe are put on. The dressing is 
changed as soon as suppuration shows itself and renewed with the 
same ingredients in the same manner until the wound becomes 
healthy and granulating. 

It is only for the sake of the record that we refer to the exclu- 
sively surgical treatment, based upon the erroneous idea that the 
fici of canker are abnormal products, deeply implanted in the tis- 
sues beneath, and where it was advised to look for the imaginary 
roots of these fici at their extreme limits. In this treatment, not 
only the diseased horn was removed, but the entire sole, the plan- 
tar cushion and often the plantar aponeurosis was excised. This 
practice, advised by Lafosse junior, was also recommended in the 
veterinary schools by Chabert in France, and Dieterichs in Ger- 
many. It prevailed for a long time, though experience showed 
tliat the wound resulting from such an operation was of very slow 
recovery, that the frog especially could not be regenerated, that 
there remained a central ulcer, and that it gave rise to such a mal- 
formation of the foot that the animal remained lame for a long 
time, sometimes for life. Notwithstanding these objections, ob- 
served by Jeanne, Girard and Eichbautn, this treatment is still 
followed by a few who prefer it to the simple operations of Sol- 
leysel, which consists in the division of the loose pieces of horn 
and the excision of the fungoid projections. 

We have thus far only spoken of the local, without referring 
to the internal or constitutional treatment of canker, recommended 
by those who look upon the disease as constitutional. "Without 
believing that it can have any real curative effect, we, however, 
admit its usefulness, when the disease is of old standing, and that 
the animal has suffered much by it. Ferruginous preparations are 
specially advisable, and we prefer the carbonates that are used by 
Delwart to the sulphates recommended by Prevost, Delaval and 
Hertwig, and it is well to unite them with bitters and tonic pow- 
ders. Arsenious acid is prescribed internally by Delaval, Feuil- 
lette, Niederberger, Obich ; and other alteratives, such as mercury, 



31 

which we would not advise. Nor can we understand how any 
benefit is to be derived from diuretics and purgatives, and espec- 
ially from the use of external emunctories, such as setons. 

Corns. 

Under this name is understood an alteration of the tissues 
underneath the hoof ; of the heels of the horse's foot by lesions 
of the living parts in the movements of expansion of tlie hoof ; 
by bruises, compressions or contusions. There is then a capil- 
lary hemorrhage which extends in ecchymosis in the hoof. A 
corn, then, is a bruise of the living horn at the extreme end of 
the branches of the sole, and especially in the laminated tissue of 
the fold of the bars. It is u very common disease, and one to 
which all horses are exposed. Some have them constantly. 

Corns are seen mostly on the fore feet, and on the inside more 
commonly than on the external side. They are rare on the hind 
feet, because in the various gaits the weight of the body is car- 
ried more on the front legs and on the posterior part of the foot, 
while in the hind legs it is the front part which principally re- 
ceives it, 

I. Divisions. — Lafosse Sr. has distinguished them into 
natural and accidental., while Girard considers them all as acci- 
dental. H. Bouley designates as essential those which come from 
other than external causes. We believe that it would be better 
to establish the divisions on pathological and anatomical bases, 
and admit a corn of the wall, or laminated, that which has its 
seat in the laminae which unites the wall to the tissues under- 
neath, viz., in the keraphyllous and podophyllous tissues of the 
heels and bars, and a corn of the sole, or velvety, that which has 
its seat in the velvety tissue which unites the sole to the fleshy 
parts. The laminated corn corresponds exactly to the " natural " 
of Lafosse and to the " essential " of Bouley. It is due to lacera- 
tions in the movements of expansion of a badly made foot. The 
other is due to contusions. Whatever may be the adopted divi- 
sions, we, with Girard, and as admitted in practice, recognize in 
each category the dry, the moist and the suppurative corn. 
II. Etiology. — All feet are exposed, but not all predisposed to 



32 

corns. Thej are more frequent in heavy feet, with those where 
the heeJs are high or contracted in which there is a motion of re- 
traction of the hoof which interferes with the displacement back- 
ward of the third phalanx at the time of rest, and hence the 
lacerations are easy ; besides, there is a continual pressure upon 
the living parts of the posterior region of the nail. Corns are 
frequently observed in excessively long feet where the hoof does 
not receive the moisture necessary to its elasticity ; it then loses 
its suppleness and fails to assist the internal motions of the parts 
contained within. It is seen whenever the hoof is too dry, the 
posterior diameter of the foot being then diminished. Corns are 
seen on weak feet, on which the hoof is too thin to resist the 
dilating effect of the internal structure, and spreads excessively. 
Wide and flat feet, witli low heels, in which the inferior surface 
of the branches of the sole is on a level with the plantar border 
of the quarters and bars, are very often affected with corns. The 
pressure of the shoe, or the roughness of the ground produce 
these bruises through the sole. Here the conditions are unfavor- 
able to the normal dilatations of the hoof; the unguial phalanx, 
being unsupported by the convexity of the sole, has a tendency 
to drop down lower, the tissues are easily lacerated and bruised in 
its displacement at the time the foot rests on the ground. 

The most serious causes of corns arises from the shoeing, 
which not only sometimes gives to the hoof a shape predisposing 
to that disease, but also very often is a determining cause itself 
of these injuries. " As long," says Hartmann, " as horses will 
have corns, horse-shoeing can not pass as an art, and their too 
frequent presence is an evident proof of our imperfect means of 
protection to the hoof." Without shoeing there would be no 
corns, and it is in its irrational methods that the true causes of 
these accidents originate. It is by the greater or less frequency 
of corns that one may judge of the state of that art in a country. 

The faults are found, 1st, in the manner in which the foot is 
pared, or in the shape which it receives ; 2d, in the fitting of the 
shoe ; 3d, in its application. In paring the foot, the sole is often 
weakened, and thinned too much ; it does not resist the pressure, 
and, at the time of resting the foot, all the weight of the body is 



33 

thrown upon the point of union of the sole with the wall. Ordi- 
narily too much has been cut away from the fro^, and this not 
resting any more on the ground, no longer resists the pressure, 
and the lowering of the branches of the sole is then extreme, as 
proved by the experiments of Leisering. The custom of cutting 
the corns, and of cutting the hoof at the heels, acts in a similar 
manner ; the posterior half of the foot is weakened, and that is 
the part which must carry the greatest part of the weight. One 
needs only to compare a foot from which the shoer has removed 
much horn at the sole, frog and bars, with one in which the hoof 
has been left alone for a long time. In making a vertical and 
transverse section of the two in the middle of the frog, a little in 
front of the angles of the sole, he will see at once how weak the 
point of reunion of the sole with the wall has become, the means 
of resistance to the pressure of the weight of the body through 
the third phalanx being thus diminished, and consequently a pre- 
disposition to bruises created. 

The shape of the shoe also contributes to corns ; an excess of 
concavity ; a shoe which from the last nail-hole is not flat to the 
heels, whose branches are too much inclined, contributes to the 
lateral contraction of the foot, and gives rise to corns. In this 
case the shoe resists the play of the horny box, and by itself, 
through the sole, exercises a great pressure upon the tissues 
underneath. Too high caulks, in preventing the resting on the 
frog, cause an excessive pressure on the inside of the foot, and 
compel it to rest on the heels and the branches of the sole, which 
are too much lowered. The opposite excess, when the shoe is 
thin at the heels, as in the Coleman shoe — when it is thick at the 
toe and thin at the heels — produces a similar result, because in 
increasing the pressure on the heels, it gives rise to bruises of the 
tissues through the retrossal processes, which come down too 
heavily. A very wide shoe, too thin, may also contribute to the 
genesis of corns, because then, the shoe helping, with the inten- 
sity of the reactions on the pavement or on too hard and stony 
roads, the shoe soon gives under the foot, and compresses the sole 
and tissues beneath. 

The manner in which the shoe is put on may also be a cause of 



34 

corns ; the shoe ought to rest exclusively on the inferior bordej- 
of the wall, and not touch the sole ; when it is too narrow it may 
be a cause of contusion or of contraction ; if too wide it prevents 
the natural expansion. It is upon horses long shod that the 
wrong application of the shoe as a cause of corns is observed. 
As a consequence of the growth of the hoof, the shoe no longer 
sufficiently protects the plantar border of the foot, the heels of 
the shoe being inward and pressing on the branches of the sole ; 
this is especially the case when the shoe is thinned by wearing ; 
it yields, and easily bruises the parts of the sole on which it 
rests ; high caulks, on a branch already too short, or too thin, act 
the more injuriously in this way, because, not being concentrated 
on the projection of the canlk, the branch gives way sooner, and 
presses still more on the heels. 

The shoe becomes an indirect cause of corns, when hard sub- 
stances, as stones or dry earth, are found between its superior and 
inferior face on the sole, or between the frog and the internal 
border of the branches of the shoe ; this is a secondary cause, 
which was formerly considered of great importance. 

The work of horses has a great influence ; corns being very 
frequent in horses which work on pavements and stony and hard 
roads. They are rare in country horses, but common in those of 
great cities ; a rapid gait contributes to their development on 
account of the great pressures on the ground. The seasons have 
also an influence, dry and warm weather depriving the hoof of 
its moisture, and by preventing its elasticity of motion, increasing 
the effect of pressure on the tissues. 

Emigration has been considered a cause of corns. Horses 
coming from the north of Germany are mentioned as having been 
rapidly affected by them after being in large cities. But if the 
change too suddenly made from soft to dry bedding is an effec- 
tive cause, the mode of shoeing can also be considered as a stimu- 
lating cause. The same is true with respect to the African horses, 
which are generally free from the disease in their native country, 
but frequently suffer with them when brought to France and 
submitted to a mode of shoeing so different from that of the 
Arabs. 



35 

III. Symptoms. — The ordinary symptoms of corns are 
noticed in the abnormal position of the leg at rest, in the lame- 
ness and the sensibility of the region. 

When lame with a corn the horse carries the leg forward of the 
plumb line, and keeps it semi-flexed at the fetlock ; he tries to 
relieve the painful region by resting ; sometimes he manifests his 
pain by pawing and moving his feet from forward backwards, 
pusliiug his bedding under him. The lameness is not character- 
istic ; it varies greatly in intensity, from a slight soreness to lame- 
ness on three legs. It is generally proportioned to the intensity 
of the disease. However, there are horses so accustomed to their 
corns that they do not go lame, while others are very much so 
for a trifling injury. Sometimes it is intermittent, and diminishes 
when the suppuration has made its way between hair and hoof. 
The sensibility of the heel — seat of a corn — is discovered by an 
exploration with the blacksmith's nippers. Sometimes it is made 
known by pressure of the fingers, the cases varying, of course, 
according to the severity of the disease. There is often heat, 
especially at the coronet, which may be tumefied, particularly so 
when the corn is of a complicated suppurative character. To 
obtain an accurate view of the disease the foot should be well 
pared, and this operation may be greatly facilitated by the appli- 
cation of poultices for twenty-four or forty-eight hours pre- 
viously. 

It is only by the objective examination and the pathological 
anatomy, so to speak, of the corn that the moist or suppurative 
variety can be distinguished from the dry ; and we shall find 
either a simple ecchymotic spot, or a complete disintegration of 
tissues. 

IV. Pathological Anatoiny. — The lesions vary according to 
the severity of the disease. In dry corn, we find an infiltration 
of blood in the horny structure. This is blood which has transu- 
dated through the laminated or irritated velvety tissue from the 
injured blood vessels. This blood gives to the hoof various tints, 
more or less pronounced, not unfrequently yellowish, according 
to the intensity and duration of the disease. The hoof sometimes 
loses consistency and becomes brittle ; at others it is hard and 



36 

dry, and then resembles healthy hoof minus its coloration. If 
the ecchymotic spot involves the whole thickness of the horn, 
from its sm'face to its depth, it is an evidence of the continued 
activity of the cause. A deep mark indicates a recent injury ; a 
superficial one is an evidence of an older corn, which disappears, 
and then it seldom produces lameness. Sometimes the marks are 
arranged in layers, the healthy horn being alternated with others 
which are infiltrated with blood. This is a proof of the intermit- 
tent character of the acting cause which has originally produced 
the corn. The ecchymosis, however, is not the actual seat of the 
corn, which is more in the velvety and especially in the laminated 
tissues, which are torn or bruised, the blood escaping through the 
sole simply by the action of the laws of gravitation. It is rarely 
that this lesion is looked for in case of dry corn, and it is usually 
ignored ; but, in the confirmed corns, a true alteration of the 
laminae of the keraphyllous tissue is observed. This is replaced 
by a horny tumor, a kind of keraphyllocele, analogous to that of 
chronic laminitis, due to a union of the laminae under the influ- 
ence of the fibro-plastic exudation resulting from the inflamma- 
tion, which is of varying size, and presses more or less on the 
sub-horny tissues. In some cases, this horn breaks up little by 
little, and gives rise to quarter crack. The ecchymotic spots of 
dry corn may vary in size ; they may range from the size of a 
pea to that of a ten-cent coin. At other times they may occupy 
the entire space between the bars and the walls of the foot. 

In moist corn, there is not only hemorrhage, but also inflamma- 
tion proper, with serous exudation. The hoof is colored, as in 
dry corn, of a brownish tint, due to the infiltration of blood which 
occurred at the start ; on searching deeper, one will discover be- 
tween the hoof and the living tissues beneath a separation of 
varying dimensions, filled by citrine serosity. Most frequently, 
this separation takes place at the line of union of the sole with 
the wall, and extends under both. The horny substance is then 
more or less impregnated with this serosity, and then has a char- 
acteristic yellow appearance and a waxy consistency. 

In suppurative corns, or more properly, suppurating, the in- 
flammation ends in suppuration. The pus is secreted by the vel- 



37 

vety and laminated tissues. It makes room for itself by gradu- 
ally separating the hoof as its formation progresses. Before long 
it passes between the podophyllous grooves of the bars and of the 
quarters, the horny are loosened from the fleshy laminae, and in 
its ascending progress the pus soon makes its appearance between 
hairs and hoof at the quarter, at the heels, or at the glomes of 
the frog. It is not common for the pus to make its way through 
a hoof of too thick or resisting a nature, unless it has first been 
sufficiently softened by poultices and thinned down by the knife. 
This suppuration, in the generality of cases, brings on serious 
complications, by the excessive pressure to which the sub-horny 
tissues are then subjected. Gangrene of the velvety tissue near 
the branches of the sole and of the podophyllous grooves which 
have been macerated in the suppuration, are very common com- 
plications. If the pus remains long in the hoof, its gangrenous 
results may extend to the os pedis, the lateral cartilage, the plan- 
tar cushion, and even to the plantar aponeurosis, and give rise to 
necrosis or caries of the bones, or to quittor, to a more or less 
variable extent. This sub-hornj'^ suppuration, which may some- 
times be considerable, as well as the complications accompanying 
it, are detected with the probe. 

Y. Termination and Prognosis. — Hesolution is a common ter- 
mination of corns. But their relapse is common also, especially 
in feet predisposed to them by bad conformation. A kind 
of chronic condition of the disease, and one which is more 
liable to become serious than the accidental variety, is the 
ordinary termination in this case. The mere extent of the 
disease is of less importance in the diagnosis than the pre- 
disposing conditions. Generally, the dry corn is less serious than 
the moist one, and especially less than the suppurative. Com- 
plicated corns, principally in flat, wide feet, with low heels, by 
reason of uncertain, protracted and expensive treatment, are in 
general fatal, and necessitate the destruction of the patient. 

VI. TreatmeMt. — The largeness of the space we have con- 
sumed in considering the etiology of corns will compel us to be 
brief in our remarks upon the preventive treatment. Shoeing, 
which is so often the cause of corns, may also be made a means 



38 

of preventing them, even upon predisposed feet, if performed 
with intelligence and proper observation, based upon the anatomy 
and physiology of the foot. Generally speaking, one must not 
proceed rashly by changing too suddenly the mode of shoeing. 
"We do not think that any one specified system of shoeing will 
with certainty prevent corns, but we do believe that each case 
demands its special study and care. Usually, a flat shoe, and 
which has the heels rather thin but resisting, and which rests on 
the wall proper, even of the diseased one, if not too painful, is to 
be preferred. If the shoe is for a low-heeled foot, the heels of 
the shoe should be thicker in order to supply their insufiicient 
height and to offer more resistance to the weight of the body. 
Sometimes the protecting effect of the shoe must be completed 
by the use of a plate of gutta percha or leather between the foot 
and the shoe ; India rubber does not answer, as by its elasticity 
it interferes with the resistance of the shoe. It is absolutely 
necessary to preserve the hoof in a sufficiently supple condition, 
to effect which tar, hoof ointments, and other greasy substances 
are used. Flaxseed meal, poultices of cow manure and salt water, 
a damp bedding, tallow in the hollows of the heels, all are very 
good preventives and even curative means, which a careful hostler 
will not neglect. Faring the feet thin, as practiced by some, is 
very objectionable, and is a serious obstacle to the extirpation of 
corns. The feet should be pared as little as possible, especially 
at the heels or in the lacunae. 

As for the mirative treatment^ there are, according to H. 
Bouley, four indications to follow : First, remove the acting 
cause; second, treat the injury it has produced; third, relieve 
the pressure upon the diseased region, until it has returned^ to its 
healthy condition ; fourth, prevent the return of the injury. 

The first indication is easy to fulfil with the accidental corn, but 
often nearly impossible in that due to a bad conformation of the 
feet. The second indication varies according to the extent of the 
disease. Generally it is advised to thin down the hoof at the 
bruised part and its surroundings, so as to relieve the pres- 
sure on congested or inflamed parts. Still, we are not in favor of 
too much thinning of the hoof, and except under peculiar condi- 



39 

tions, would practice it very slightly. Even in the moist corn, 
we believe in leaving to the hoof a certain protective thickness. 
The pressure can be sensibly diminished by the application of 
chloroformed-oil, or of tincture of creasote ; they very readily 
penetrate the hoof, and act directly upon the inflamed parts. We 
believe that excessive paring, the " cutting out of the corns," to 
use the shoer's expression, is injurious, and predisposes to new 
corns, by weakening the region and promoting a more rapid des- 
iccation and contraction of the hoof. In all cases of dry and 
moist corn, one must avoid making the parts bleed, the exposure 
of the soft tissues, and all unnecessary cutting. Thinning is 
necessary in suppurative corn ; and has to be done over the whole 
extent of the separation of the horn, and a wide channel of exit 
made for the pus on the side of the sole. It is a wise plan not 
to remove the entire mass of the loosened hoof, as by this the 
dressing will be much facilitated. 

Cold baths are useful in all cases of corns ; at other times 
poultices of bran or other material are preferred. Sometimes 
sulphate of iron or of copper are added to the bath, especially in 
the moist corn. In the suppurative kind, when the suppuration 
is irregular, and when complications are likely to follow, warm 
and slightly aromatic baths are better, and after this, a dressing 
with tincture of creosote, renewed the same day or the next. 
Later, cold iron or copper baths may be used again ; if the sup- 
puration has broken out between hairs and hoofs, injections of 
Villates' solution, after free escape of the pus by the plantar sur- 
face, are indicated. 

In the complicated suppurative corn these means are insuffic- 
ient. We must cut deeper, and for this the animal must be 
thrown. Then, when the diseased tissues are exposed by the re- 
moval of the loosened hoof, the nature of the lesions must indi- 
cate the requirements of the treatment. The velvety and podo- 
phyllous tissues, if gangrenous, must be excised as far as their 
diseased condition extends ; carious bone is to be scraped ; the 
fibrous and iibro-cartilaginous structures, if necrosed, are to be 
excised or cauterized, or sometimes left alone and watched, ac- 
cording to the peculiar character and extent of their lesions and 



40 

the extent to which they exist. Once operated on, a dressing 
with plates and bands is applied, and the animal allowed to rise. 
It is by a peculiar shoeing that, for some time, the painful 
heel must be relieved from supporting its part of the weight of 
the body, and protected from outside pressure. This is the " bar 
shoe." By the transverse bar, which unites both branches, it 
presents a support to the frog and protects the heels. The rest- 
ing of the shoe takes place equally upon the wall of the toe and 
of the quarters, especially the external, and it does not rest on the 
diseased heels which may have been first cut away. Some vet- 
erinarians prefer the truncated, or the oblique bar shoe, or that 
with a bar forming an acute reentering angle ; Hartmann recom- 
mends the first ; Mayer prefers the bar shoe in which the bar or 
heels have been thinned down, and even hollowed, to avoid as 
much as possible the pressure on the diseased part ; this shoe has 
sometimes given us good results in horses with a weak frog. In 
many cases, ordinary shoeing answers ; then the diseased hoof is 
pared down. The branch of the shoe in this case requires 
a greater thickness. Whatever may be the mode of shoeing used, 
much advantage can be obtained by the application of a sole of 
leather or of gutta percha. 

Sandcracks. 

Seime of the French ; Ho7iispalt of the Germans ; Fissura of 
the Italians — are fissures or solutions of continuity observed on 
the walls of the foot, ordinarily very narrow, which follow the 
direction of the horn. Principally observed on the hoof of soli- 
peds, it has been seen also in ruminants, but rarely, and of 
little importance. 

I. Division. — They may exist on every part of the wall. 
On the median line of the nail they are called toe-crack, and then 
are more frequent on the hind feet. They are rarely found on 
the outside or inside toe (the tnamelles of the French), but com- 
monly met with on the quarter {guarter-cracks), then situated on 
the lateral parts of the wall, towards the heels, and more fre- 
quently on the fore feet, especially on the inside. They are 
sometimes oblique, relatively to the thickness of the wall. Cracks 



41 

are superficial or deep, according to the thickness of the wall in- 
volved. They are complete when they extend from the coronary 
band down to the plantar border ; incomplete when more limited. 
In this last case, those which do not extend up to the skin are 
the more disposed to recovery, and will grow down with the 
growth of the wall, while those which extend to the coronary 
band are more serious, being continually aggravated as the 
growth of the hoof progresses. According to the date of tlieir 
formation, they are called recent and old. Sirnple cracks are 
those which only involve the wall ; they are complicated where 
there is a more or less serious lesion of the tissues beneath, such 
as inflammation of the laminae, hemorrhage, or caries of the bono. 
A serious complication is that of keraphylocele. 

II. Symptom.s. — Often the solution of continuity is the only 
one observed, and it is the special characteristic of the disease. 
But the fissure may be masked, either accidentally or by design. 
It may be concealed by the hairs ; by tlie mud ; or covered by 
hoof-ointment, tar, wax, or even a putty of gutta-percha. Con 
cealed internal cracks have sometimes been discovered, such as 
fissures involving the internal face of the wall, which, conse- 
quently, were not noticed from the outside, or showing but a slight 
depression on the surface of the walk These cracks are only 
discoverable when tlie foot has been well pared down. As 
slight as the solution of continuity may be, it participates in 
the motion of dilatation of the foot, and is better detected when 
the foot is raised than when it rests on the ground. This is the 
case when it is a toe-crack, but on the contrary, the quarter-crack 
is more open when the animal rests its weight on the leg ; in 
which case, the separation of the borders of the cracks may be 
from two to four millimetres, and may expose the bottom of the 
fissure. Ordinarily, cracks appear first at the coronet, and there 
is then but a slight opening, but as tliey become older, and grow 
down, they have a tendency to become deeper and more complete. 
When of old standing, their borders are rough and scaly, having 
between them an ulcerated tissue and sometimes a fungus growth, 
from which escapes a sanious fiuid. In other cases, as of quarter- 
crack, the edges have a tendency to cover each other. 



42 

Superficial cracks are not always attended with lameness ; it 
is, on the contrary, often very severe wlicn they are deep. The 
pain is generally in proportion to the depth and tlie degree of 
opening of the fissure, and also especially to any complications 
which may exist in the tissues beneath. The lameness seems at 
times to be due to the injury of the deep, soft tissues, and to be 
caused by the motions of the horny box when they become 
pinched, irritated and bruised. The afi^ected animals are especially 
lame when the foot rests on the ground, and the lameness is 
greater on a hard than on a soft surface. If an animal suffering 
with toe-cracks is moved on descending ground, the lameness is 
greater than on ascending a liill, the weight of tlie toe in the 
latter case producing less opening of the edges of the solution of 
continuity. In quarter-cracks, the severity of the lameness is 
always in proportion to the rapidity of the gait ; many horses 
which are but slightly lame on a jog, become much more so when 
the gait is accelerated, the dilatation of the heels being greater, 
and the separation of the borders of the crack increasing in propor- 
tion to the speed. When there is lameness, there is naturally an 
increase of heat and sensibility of the foot, especially at the seat 
of the crack. This is often discovered by feeling with the hand ; 
old cracks are generally accompanied by a thickening existing at a 
corresponding point of the hoof. A deep, but recent crack, is 
apt to be accompanied with hemorrhage ; there is blood which 
sometimes exudes between the borders of the crack, and flows in 
abundance when the movement is rapid ; an old crack, in similar 
circumstances, may show pus, sometimes mixed with blood. A 
misstep, a sprain, may give rise to hemorrhage in cracks wliich 
are ordinarily dry. In toe-crack, the solution generally involves 
the thickness of the wall, through which it runs in a line almost 
parrallel to the median plane of the body, while in quarter-crack 
it is often oblique and irregular, not exactly following the direc- 
tion of the fibres, but following the thickness of the wall ob- 
liquely, in such a way that the external solution of continuity is 
more posterior than the internal. If the crack is rather old, and 
the foot where it exists is contracted, it is generally incurvated, 
one border covering the other, and sometimes they seem to be 



43 

moulded on each other so as to cover and conceal the true crack. 

III. Comjjlications. — Amongst these we may first mention 
the inflammation of the recticular tissue, which is first pinched 
and injured. This may be followed by suppuration and local 
gangrene. V^ery often the disease is followed by necrosis of the 
OS pedis, and caries of varying depth. In toe-crack, cases have 
been seen of caries of the tendon of the anterior extensor of tiie 
phalanges, and even arthritis, though rarely occurring, has been 
observed. In quarter-crack, one may have cartilaginous quittor 
and suppurative corns. As before stated, these lesions are indi- 
cated by the severity of the lameness, the presence of the blood 
or pus through the crack, and the extreme sensibility of the part. 
It is especially when, in the course of treatment, a part of the 
hoof has been removed, that the keratogenous apparatus has been 
exposed, that the abnormal coloration of the podophyllous tissue 
is seen, in its swollen condition and its sensibility to pressure, ac- 
companied with the presence of the pus or sanious discharge, and 
at times the necrosis of the bone. Sometimes, also, foreign sub- 
stances, as dirt or gravel, may be found introduced in the cracks, 
and acting as causes of irritation to the sensitive tissues below. 

A complication, not so frequent, however, according to some 
authors, is that known as Keraphyllocele^ and which consists in 
an hypersecretion of horn, from the coronary band on tlie inside 
of the crack. Sometimes the horny growth remains separate 
from the borders of the crack, and is adherent to the wall only 
by its base, towards the coronary band ; this is especially the 
case when the wall has been thinned down or partly removed. 
In other cases it is adherent to the two borders of the crack, and 
this forms a natural cicatrix. This horny column of varying 
length and strength, according to its age, presses upon the tissues 
beneath, and gives rise to severe lameness. With time there is 
corresponding atrophy of the podophyllous tissue, or even of the 
OS pedis. This is often followed by a marked deformity of the 
hoof, and especially a deep fissure, parallel to the direction of 
the crack. The soft tissues under the keraphyllocele often, in 
time, become harder, in consequence of the disappearance of the 
papillae; the hoof then is no longer adherent to the tissues 



44 

beneath, and so incurable cracks are the result. A double wall 
or false quittor have often also been observed. Thus deformed, 
the foot is always subject to lameness, even if the crack is cured. 
Contraction or atrophy of the frog have been observed with quar- 
ter-crack. 

IV. Progress^ Duration^ Termination. — Ordinarily cracks 
once existing become worse. From being superficial and imper- 
fect they become deep and complete as a natural result of the 
ordinary motions of the foot. If rest and some hygienic atten- 
tion can be given, they may recover spontaneously, and disap- 
pear by the natural downward growth of the I'.oof. This fortu- 
nate termination, however, is principally obtained when the crack 
is due to accidental causes, without deformity of the foot. 

V. Prognosis. — Simple cracks, superficial and incomplete, 
especially arising from the plantar border, almost always recover 
under rational treatment, which has for its principal aim the pre- 
vention of increase in the size of the fissure. Cracks starting 
from the coronary band are always of a more serious nature, with 
a tendency to increase easily. Still they are no longer to be con- 
sidered incurable. Cracks in which the borders are much sepa- 
rated by tlie motion of walking ; those which are oblique ; those 
whose edges are incurvated inwards ; those where a portion of 
the wall is loose ; those which bleed, and those where there is a 
continued irritation of the sub-horny tissues, are the most serious, 
so nnich so that they may i-equire quite serious surgical interfer- 
fence, and after all bafiie tlie best skill of the operator. 

VI. Etiology. — The causes of cracks vary greatly, and are 
often multiple in a single case. Seldom the result of accident, 
they are most commonly the combined effect of both a predispos- 
ing and an extraneous cause. A. frequent one among others is 
the relative dryness of the lioof, which then become excessively 
brittle. We have seen the conditions in which the hoof loses 
its natural flexibility, and shall here only state that alternate 
changes from dampness to dryness have as much influence as the 
dryness alone. Cracks are more frequent in animals working 
along damp than in those pulling in dry and stony roads. They 
are common in animals which, after being kept in pastures, are 



45 

placed in good paved stables, with dry bedding. It is principally 
in these conditions we find the quarter-crack. During some sea- 
sons, while a term of dryness follows continued wet weather, the 
conditions are favorable to their formation, and they often assume 
an epizootic form. Emigration to dry climates is a frequent 
cause, by producing the contraction of the ungueal structure. 
This last circumstance explains why cracks are more common in 
army horses, which are called to go on long journeys during the 
warm days of summer. But if the European horse taken to 
Africa suffers less from the disease, a similar result occurs in the 
African horse when brought to our climate. The Arabian horse 
readily contracts quarter-cracks in our stables, and with our shoeing. 
Animals with small feet, or with hard and thick hoofs, have a 
natural predisposition, which is also found in Hungarian, Russian 
or Tartar animals. Feet excessively large are also easily affected 
with the disease, especially those which have canker or grease. 

Unskilful shoeing may predispose to cracks, and this is prin- 
cipally the case if the wall is thinned or rasped down too much ; 
the same result is obtained from shoes which are too wide or too 
heavy, or which are kept on by too heavy nails. 

Feet with tlie toes turned outwards are predisposed to it, as 
in these the weight of the body rests more on the internal quai-- 
ter, which being thinner than the external, give way the easiest. 
Contracted feet are subject to it. Quittor, suppurative corns, and 
some other diseases are also predisposing causes. Among 
occasional or accidental causes may be mentioned traumatism, 
contusions of the foot, and blows during work. The service of 
heavy trucking for heavy horses exposes the hind feet to toe- 
crack, especially if the pulling is done in going up hill or on 
slippery pavements ; mules' feet are very subject to it, and heavy 
falls in jumping and external blows are occasional causes. 

Heridity in cracks has been mentioned. We do not admit 
thi^ except so far as it belongs among the predisposing causes 
which may be transmitted, and we should object to an animal for 
breeding purposes, if, though otherwise well formed, he were 
affected with cracked feet. 

VII. Treatment. — Prophylaxy ought to be the principal treat- 



46 

ment of cracks. It is not always easy, however, to prevent them, 
and it becomes important, therefore, to treat them as soon as 
they appear. One onght at least to try to prevent them from 
becoming complete and deep. This form of treatment may be 
called the hygienic, as it is not properly curative, and so long as 
the crack is not yet completely formed, by this means the animal 
may be kept at work as if everything was normal. Curative 
treatment is tliat which is applied to the deep or complete dis- 
ease, more or less complicated, and it m^st commonly consists in 
removing that portion of the wall which bruises and irritates tlie 
tissues beneath, and in equalizing the wound. In general, there 
is no necessity for haste in operating, the hygienic treatment be- 
ing often sufficient to obviate the need of serious operations. The 
distinction between the hygienic and curative treatment is not 
however, always definitely marked, and quite often the two 
modes of treatment must be combined, both the hygienic and 
curative being necessary. 

^\\Q prophylactic treatment consists specially in the applica- 
tion of tonics, with the object of preventing the hoof fi'om dry- 
ing. Its normal hygroscopic condition must be preserved, and it 
must be prevented from taking up too much of the dampness of 
the ground upon which it travels, as well as from losing that 
which keeps up its flexibility. At times it must be rendered 
more moist and, according to the requirements of the case, re- 
course must be had to hoof ointments and other greasy sub- 
stances, glycerine, and astringent poultices. At the same time 
the shoeing must be carefully attended to ; the shoe must not be 
too heavy nor too wide, and should be secured by nails of a prop- 
er size. 

The hygienic treatment has for its first and principal indica- 
tions to prevent the solution of continuity from increasing, from 
extending through healthy structure, and especially to new hoof, 
as this is secreted by the coronary band. The borders of the 
cracks must, therefore, be prevented from separating in t e move- 
ments of dilatation of the foot. The normal suture of the wall 
not being produced by the natural process, or at least, producing 
it only in keraphyllocele, which is likely to be as injurious as 



47 

the crack itself, the borders of the crack must be brought together 
artificially. 

It has been supposed that this could be done with the putty of 
Defay's, a mixture of gutta percha (2 parts) and gum ammoniac 
(1 part), introduced into the well-cleaned fissure in a solution, and 
pushed in as deeply as possible by a warm iron plate or a spatula. 
This putty is excellent for superficial cracks, but is insffiucient to 
bring the borders together when the fissure is somewhat deep, or 
especially if it is irregular and sinuous. 

A better way, at least for toe crack, is that which consists 
in suturing the edges of the solution of continuity by metal- 
lic clasps, which immobilize the hoof. This mode is al- 
ways preferable to circular ligatures of wire or cord, which have 
the effect of interfering with the natural elasticity of the hoof. 
Clasps only fix the hoof locally, and are an old means of treat- 
ment, having been used by Solleysel and Garsault. 

It was advised to perforate the horn through and through, with 
a small punch, and pass a wire, which was bent over the crack, 
or twisted together at the ends. The same authority recommends 
the driving of a nail through both edges, and securing it tightly, 
as in the application of the nails of the shoe. This treatment was 
recently recommended by Haupt, Lafosse and Rey. The first 
of these professors takes an ordinary nail, with a small head, drives 
it through one edge of the crack, so as to come through the other 
at an equal distance from the point of entrance ; the nail being 
thus driven to the head the borders of the crack are then brought 
together, and the nail secured in the ordinary way. Two or three 
of these clasps are employed, according to the extent of the crack. 
Lafosse makes a groove on each side of the fissure, about one cen- 
timeter from the border, in a direction transverse to that of the 
fibres of the wall, which limits the passage of the nail. The 
nail is then introduced and secured as in the first instance. Rey 
makes a track for the nail first, by drilling a hole through the 
borders of the crack. The animal must be cast during these 
operations. 

The best kind of clasps or hooks are undoubtedly those of 
Vachette, which require special instruments for their application, 



48 

but give a real solidity to the means of fixing the position of the 
parts. The clasps are all prepared, made of strong wire, bent at 






both extremities, and slightly sharp inwardly, (fig. a.) These are 
secured on the foot by a special nipper or forceps, (fig. c.) in the 
notches made on the wall with a special cautery (fig. b) ; this 
cautery has its extremities flattened, the width of the clasp apart 
from each other. The forceps used to secure these is strong ; its 
branches are flattened from side to side, and grooved inwards, and 
sufiiciently apart from each other, while it is open, to receive the 
clasps between its border ; these branches, with the clasp, are 
exactly fitted to the notches made in the wall with the cautery. 
It is suflicient to press the branches of the forceps, to close the 
teeth or extremities of the clasps, and bring firmly together the 
borders of the cracks. The number of clasps varies according to 
the case under treatment. 

A very simple mode of effecting reunion of the borders of the 



49 

crack is that of Harttnann. It consists ia applying upon the wall 
a sheet of iron, adapted to its outside, and secured on the foot by 
two small screws. 

Clasps are of a certain utility for toe cracks, but they often 
fail in quarter cracks, on account of the thin condition of the wall, 
which is particularly well marked in some feet. If the living 
tissues are encroached upon, the clasp may give rise to complica- 
tions, and still it is in that region that the effects of the motion of 
the hoof must be prevented, and where immobility is essential, to 
prevent the separation and spread of the edges of the crack. 

Castandet has indicated a mode of treatment which has proved 
very successful, and which may be applied to both toe and quar- 
ter crack, where the fissure of the wall extends from the coronary 
band to the lower border of the foot. It consists in making a 
groove at about one centimeter on each side of the crack, which 
in depth extends to its bottom, which, when reached, is white. If 
the solution does not go to the lower border of the foot, these 
grooves are made obliquely, and so as to meet together at their 
lower termination, and form a V shape. Thus the crack cannot 
increase, and it grows down without injury to the soft tissues. 
Castandet, after this operation, cauterizes the coronary band. 

The transversal groove, recommended by Levrat, which cuts 
the tissues in two and extends beyond the crack on each side 
about three centimeters, which goes down to the soft tissues of 
the foot, and not beyond them, has for its object to diminish the 
effects of percussion produced by the contact of the foot with the 
ground. It however, does not prevent the edges of the fissure 
from separating, as the groove of Castandet does. It is chiefly 
useful when there is separation of the wall, or false quarter. At 
times a transverse groove has been made to prevent an incomplete 
fissure, starting from the plantar border from spreading to the 
coronary band. According to Hartmann, a single hole drilled 
through the wall is, in these cases, sufficient. 

Shoeing is of much assistance in the hygienic treatment of 
cracks. In toe cracks, the toe should be spared as much as possi- 
ble while the heeh are lowered by paring, or by the application 
of a shoe thicker at the toe, or by the removal of the calks at 



50 

the heels. While Defays holds that the shoe ought to lie close 
and tight to the plantar regions of the crack, Hartmann, on the 
contrary, advises the paring of that surface at the toe, so that the 
shoe cannot rest on the crack, and recommends the application of 
two clips on each side of the toe. 

In quarter cracks, it is recommended to lower the toe, to save 
the bars and the frog ; and when the crack is incomplete, and not 
accompanied with lameness, Defays recommends not to lower the 
diseased quarter, and to have the heels resting well on that branch 
of the shoe, which shall be thick and straight. Schrebe advises a 
calk on that side. If the crack is deep, with excessive lameness, 
and deep lesions, the quarters and heels must be pared down as 
much as possible, and a bar to be then put on, resting on the 
frog, if need be. An ordinary shoe with a thick branch may he 
sometimes employed. 

As part of the hygienic treatment, we may consider the means 
recommended to increase the secretion at the coronary band. 
It is known that a slight irritation at that part of the foot is ac- 
companied with an increased secretion of hoof, which is some- 
times sufficient to give rise to a new growth of healthy horn. 
One of the most common methods is to slightly cauterize the 
coronary band with the iron. This was already known by old 
practitioners, who employed an S cautery'; but they committed 
the error of burning the hoof too deeply, instead of simply cauter- 
izing the coronary band. Solleysel speaks of the cauterization 
of the baud. Garsault mentions only the burning with three Ss 
across the crack. Such cauterization could have no useful effect, 
and the deep application of the cautery might be followed by 
serious complications. For these reasons Lafosse objected to 
them. In our days it is abandoned, and the coronary band only 
is touched by the cautery ; Castandet and Rey also employ it. 
Chemical cauteries have also been recommended, nitric acid by 
Laguerriniere, and more recently by Lafosse. 

Putty of corosive sublimate and ointment of oxide of mer- 
cury are also in use, but have no marked advantages. Blisters 
prove very beneficial, and also turpentine, as recommended by 
Lafosse and Rey, and the oil of Gade by Maury. Defays ad- 



51 

vises the putty of gutta percha, which is also used to conceal the 
clasps. 

The curative treatment is necessary whenever any complica- 
tion attends the crack. If it is recent, antiphlogistics and rest 
should be first tried ; cold bathing, blisters combined with 
hygienic treatment may then be sufficient. A single groove at 
the upper part of the crack, near the coronary band, is often suffi- 
cient, or the removal of a V shaped portion of hoof, extending 
more or less deeply according to the condition of the crack, care 
being observed to avoid the growth of vascular granulations be- 
tween the edges of the crack. There are cases where it is not 
necessary to remove the segments of the hoof entirely down to 
the soft tissues, but only to thin them down and to apply over it 
a dressing of oakum, secured by several turns of roller band- 
ages. In all cases a bar shoe must be applied to relieve the 
pressure on the quarter where the crack exists. This is princi- 
pally recommended by Prevost, Girard and others. 

If there are deep lesions of the sub-horny tissues, a piece of the 
wall must be removed, and the operation for radical cure be per- 
formed. It is an old operation, by which all diseased tissues are 
exposed. As little of hoof as possible is removed. In operating, 
two grooves will be made alongside and at some distance of the 
solution of continuity. The wall between is removed so as to expose 
the podophyllous tissues from the coronary band down to the sole, 
care being taken to avoid the tearing of the structure of the 
coronary band, and the diseased tissues are then removed. If 
the podophyllous tissue, it is excised with the sage knife ; if the 
bone is carious, it is scraped with the drawing knife. The whole 
is then dressed up with a shoe having the toe thinned down, and 
extending somewhat beyond the border of the foot. 

The cicatrization does not take place from the coronary band 
alone, but also from the horny secretions of the podophyllous 
tissues. The repair is then quite rapid. The first dressing is 
removed after eight or ten days, and if everything goes on well 
need not be changed more than once a week. 

The animal is not to be. put to work until the hoof has obtained 
a certain consistency. 



52 

The operation for quarter crack is similar, except that only 
one groove is required in front of the crack, the tissues being 
exposed as in the operation for the removal of the lateral carti- 
lages of the foot. 

Calk. 

Synonym. — Kronentritt (German) — Atteinte (French). — Thus 
is called a contusion, with or without wound, that the animal re- 
ceives on the coronet, from the shoe of another foot, or from a 
foreign body, or by another animal walking behind or alongside 
him. 

The skin of that region is very thick, slightly extensible, 
not easily yielding to the inflammatory swelling ; there is commonly 
sloughing and mortification of tissues, accompanied with violent 
pain. It is frequent in animals that forge, also in very young 
horses or those which are weak in the lumbar region, and which 
interfere and cut themselves in walking. This lesion is also very 
common in the districts where horses are shod with high calked 
shoes, when the wound resulting from it is made by the in- 
ternal branch of the shoe, which lacerates the skin of the coronet. 
Horses shod to travel on ice are commonly affected with it ; the 
injury being more or less serious according to the size and sharp 
condition of the calk. 

Horses ridden in riding schools are often affected with it during 
the various evolutions of the haute-ecole. 

It is called single when the wound is slight ; concealed when 
the pain is great and continued, as in the case where it takes 
place on the tendon, near the heels or the quarters ; horny ^ when 
the contusion has taken place on the wall or at the coronary 
band ; complicated^ when it is very serious and accompanied with 
other more severe lesions. It is always a horizontal wound or a 
tumor by contusion. 

I. Syrnpioms. — It is ordinarily recognized by the wound or 
swelling which exists upon the parts. Often, the horse is Jame, 
and the affected part warm and painful ; sometimes the hairs are 
cut, the skin scratched or torn. There may be a slight bleeding 
at the seat of the wound. When the wall has received the con- 



53 

tusion, the vascular network underneath may become inflamed, 
and then pus is formed between the teguments and the hoof, 
which then become separated. Sometimes even the lateral fibro- 
cartilage of the foot becomes irritated and swollen and ulcerates, 
especially when the contusion has taken place on that part where 
the cartilage is ; in this case the injury may be complicated with 
cartilaginous quittor. 

In severe cases, one may recognize a furuncular calk, charac- 
terized by the mortification and sloughing of a portion of skin at 
the place where the contusion took place ; it is the cutaneous 
quittor of old hippiatry, with formation of a core ; this is always 
very painful,, and the inflammation generally spreads underneath 
the wall. Bouley calls it gangrenous when there is unlimited 
similar mortification of the tissues ; in this case the slough in- 
volves large portions of the skin. At times it may be called 
phlegmonous^ when an abscess forms itself under the skin ; then 
the coronet is warm, thick and inflamed, and the pain is extreme. 
Then if an incision be made through the dermis in its entire thick- 
ness, an abundant bleeding takes place, generally followed by the 
resolution of the disease ; if there is already suppuration, it is at 
the same time immediately allowed to escape. 

11. Treatment. — If the injury is slight or recent, whether with 
or without wound, very cold water and the removal of the cause 
by taking off the shoe, are sufficient to bring on a cure. But if 
the contusion has been great and deep, recovery is more difficult 
to obtain on account of the suppuration which will follow. Then 
the application of poultices is indicated ; if there is formation of 
a core and mortification of tissues, poultices of honey are especially 
indicated; in case of phlegmon, the poultice must be warm, and 
then incisions and counter openings must be made for the escape 
of pus ; afterwards dressings are made with oakum saturated with 
tepid wine or tincture of aloes. 

When the calking is horny, the use of emollient topically is in- 
sufficient ; an excellent way then is to obtain the required slough- 
ing of the tissues by actual cauterization — the iron heated to 
white heat : by thus destroying a portion of the hoof and the 
soft tissues, one will avoid the excessive pressure at the coronary 



54 

band ; this may also be prevented by the thinning down of the 
wall with the sage knife ; but one must be careful not to remove 
too soon the portions of horn which may be detached. 

When the calking takes place at the heel, it is good — so as to 
prevent other complications — to pare the foot down, especially at 
the heel, to remove the divided hoof and transform the wound 
to a simple one which can be dressed, as already stated, or with 
digestive ointment secured by several turns of a roller. 

When there are wounds of the teguments, it sometimes hap- 
pens, if the immediate union has not been obtained, that the por- 
tion of skin forming the inferior edge of the wound turns down 
and that the granulations protrude, tending to form a kind of 
fungoid growth. Chabert says that these must be cut off and 
dressed with oakum soaked in alcohol. 

Calking at the hind feet being the most severe, and those 
which are followed by most serious complications, on account of 
the urine and droppings of the animal, which impregnate the 
wound, one can never be too particular in keeping them clean 
and dressing them well. When they end in cartilaginous quittor, 
they must be treated as that disease usually is. 

As to the means of prevention, they consist in not placing the 
horses too close to each other in stables, fairs, &c., in not forcing 
them too much in their gait, in shoeing properly those which 
forge or interfere, and in placing or riding them in such a way as 
to avoid the possibility of their wounding each other. 

Punctured Wound of the Foot. 

Synonym. — Naglebritt (German) — Nail in the foot (English) 
— Clou de rue (French), — In veterinary science this designation 
has been given to a punctured wound, often with laceration, 
sometimes with contusions, either at the sole or frog of the foot 
of the monodactyles, and produced by sharp or cutting bodies, 
most commonly nails, upon which the animal steps. The form 
of these bodies, the direction they take, the force with which 
they penetrate, and the part of the sole they enter, give rise to 
various lesions, of varying gravity as they are older or as the 
injured part enjoys a greater sensibility. 



56 

Etiology. — Nails, stumps of nails, are most often those which 
are picked up in the streets; at other times it is a metallic sub- 
stance elongated and sharpened ; again, there are pieces of glass, 
or other substances, such as bones or sharp stones, which are picked 
up and produce the wound. 

It is principally in the streets of populous cities, in the yards 
of builders, or on the grounds where buildings are pulled down, 
that horses are mostly exposed to receive these injuries. In rural 
districts they are rare, comparatively, to what they are in cities. 

It is evident that horses with wide, flat, thin, softened hoofs 
are more exposed than those which are of different structure. 

I. Divisions. — Punctured wounds of the foot may be simple 
or superficial^ deep ox penetrating . 

One of these bodies, piercing into the frog, requires to go in 
deep to be serious, as above the frog (which is itself quite thick, 
though formed by a soft and flexible horn) is the plantar cushion, 
a fibrous, soft and elastic mass, which offers a great resistance. 
If, however, the injuring body is a very long nail, which runs 
perpendicularly in through the frog at the plantar cushion, it 
may reach the terminal extremity of the perforans tendon, situ- 
ated immediately under the plantar cushion, and penetrate the 
sesamoid sheath. It is known that this sheath forms a sac of 
some dimensions, that it extends above and below from the infe- 
rior half of the coronary to the semi-lunar crest, and in its 
transverse axis extends from one retrosal process to the other ; 
the inferior portion of this synovial bursa covers the plantar 
aponeurosis in its whole extent. Sometimes, again, the punc- 
turing body penetrates as far as the bone ; sometimes the navic- 
cular ; at others the os pedis, and sometimes even penetrates into 
the articulation. 

II. Symptoms. — They vary according to the seat of the lesion, 
its depth, the mode of action of the penetrating body, length of 
time it has remained in the wound, and the nature of the lesions 
it has made ; all conditions which may change the characters of 
the disease from a first degree, when the animal shows no evi- 
dence of pain, to the extreme point where its life is in danger, 
and even ends in death, by the excessive local alterations and the 
sufferings accompanying it. 



56 

Often the tirst point which assists in the diagnosis of the case 
is the history. The driver who has seen the horse become sud- 
denly lame, has examined the foot and found a nail more or less 
deeply ; at others, it is the surgeon who yet finds the nail in 
its hiding place. The exploration of the part shows with cer- 
tainty the nature of the lesion, the direction and depth of the 
wound, as well as the physical condition of the body which has 
made it, and all circumstances which allow a positive diagnosis 
to be made. 

Quite often the nail is no longer in the foot ; sometimes it has 
left its mark — an opening which can be explored ; often this is 
not visible at first sight, though the wound may be even deep ; 
this is when the injury to the hoof has been very slight, and when 
the hoof has retracted on itself by its elasticity, or when the 
opening is concealed by the dirt of the streets. It must be re- 
membered that sometimes the penetrating body remains broken 
in the soft tissues after its entrance through the hoof. If the 
accident is recent, only a little blood may be found — liquid or 
coagulated — over the wound ; later, some serosity, more or less 
purulent, is observed ; the pus is white or black, sometimes 
mixed with synovial fluid ; sometimes there are granulations on 
the bodies of the wound which protrude over the edges, com- 
monly called proud flesh. Such are the first objective symptoms 
obtained by the exploration of the parts. Ordinarily they are 
insufficient, for it is not always easy to probe the wound. It then 
becomes necessary at the beginning to pare off the hoof all round 
the wound, and sometimes to hollow it at the point of injury, 
without going to the sensitive structure, however. In this way 
the exploration and the probing of the wound are rendered much 
easier. 

The pain, expressed by the lameness, is almost always mani- 
fested ; it varies according to the seat of the lesion and its depth. 
At first the intensity of the lameness does not give the exact 
measure of the disease, and often one may be led into error by 
it ; but it gives an exact value of the lesion when a few days have 
elapsed since the injury was received ; if the pains are slight or 
absent, they indicate that the reparative process is going on well ; 



57 

it is, on the contrary, interfered with by complications, when, 
as time goes on, the lameness increases instead of becoming dim- 
ished. Generally one can say that the inquiry will amount to 
nothing when the lameness is slight, while, on the contrary, seri- 
ous complications must be always looked for when it is great 
and remains on long, even when the first lesion has been slight 
and superficial. The wound, which has penetrated through the 
hoof only, has no symptoms, no sequelae ; the animal is not lame 
from it, or if he be, the lameness is very slight, the foot resting 
entirely on the inferior snrface ; when the resting takes place 
only on the toe, ordinarily the tendon is injured, possibly the sy- 
novial sheath ; in cases where high inflammation exists the pain is 
very great, the animal walking on three legs only. 

The anatomical examination of the injured part teaches that 
the most serious punctured wound of the foot is that of the centre 
of the foot, where the tendon, synovial sac, and where the articu- 
lations may have been injured. Forward of this, the wound is 
less serious, even if it involves the bone. Posterior to it, it can 
only injure the plantar cushion. Under this condition the plantar 
region of the foot is divided into three zones : one, anterior, from 
the toe to the point of the frog, one, middle, extending from the 
first to the median lacunae of the frog; and the third, anterior, 
covering the space left back of this to the heels. 

The most serious of the injuries to which the foot is liable 
are those caused by foreign bodies which penetrate the middle 
zone, that being the most complicated portion of the structure. 
The symptoms will vary, according as the wound extends to the 
plantar aponeurosis, or only as far as this membrane ; or lacerates 
the soft surrounding tissues without touching it ; or it goes be- 
yond this and injures the small sesamoid sheath, or even going 
deeper, severs the navicular bone, or its ligamentous attachment 
to the OS pedis ; or reaches the last phalangeal articulation. 

A wound of the plantar aponeurosis is always very painful, 
especially when complicated with necrosis, in which case there is 
no weight put on the diseased leg, and continual lansinating- 
pains and reacting fever are soon observed. The wound is then 



58 

fistulous in character, and the suppuration then flowing from it 
meets with difliculties in its escape, which gives rise to a state of 
general inflammation, and the foot becomes hot and very painful. 
If the necrosed scar becomes loose and sloughs off, being detached 
by suppuration, improvement soon ensues ; but as the necrosis of 
the tendon has generally a tendency to spread, there is an in- 
crease in the character of the symptoms. If the wound extends 
to the sesamoid sheath from the start, the synovial fluid is observed 
escaping, first pure, but soon becoming milky and purulent in 
aspect, if the sheath has become inflamed, and easily coagulating 
in yellowish clots. The pain is then very great, much more so 
than when the aponeurosis alone is diseased. At times, by rapid 
closing of the plantar wound, or obstruction of the fistula, a warm 
swelling forms itself in the back of the coronet, which raises the 
skin by degrees and becomes elevated, prominent at one point, 
and giving a feeling of fluctuation. This swelling ends in ulcera- 
tion, and allows the escape, sometimes, of an abundant synovial, 
purulent discharge. 

The wound of the small sesamoid and of its ligament adds 
nothing to these seHes of symptoms. Tlie probing of the tract 
will only determine it by the sensation of roughness which it will 
give; but generally one must be careful in using the probe, espec- 
ially when the flow of synovia is absent. If the foreign body 
has pierced through the ligament, or has penetrated in the coffin 
joint, phalangeal arthritis is the consequence. The same result 
is likely to follow excessive inflammation of the foot and the 
macerating effect of the suppuration, in which case the tendon 
may soften down and give way. It may then also happen that 
this tendon retracts by the contraction of tlie muscular fibres, and 
can then be traced upwards to the back of the coronet, or of the 
fetlock, according as the giving way has taken place higher or 
lower. 

With arthritis there is a hot, painful swelling of the whole 
coronet, with diffused oedema above the fetlock and the cannon, 
and extending upwards to the whole leg, complicating the lesion 
by lymphangitis and painful swelling of the lymphatic glands. 
Then subcutaneous abscesses are found round the coronet, with 



59 

gangrene of the tissues ; while again, there may be only an exten- 
sive fibro-plastic exudation, which ends in calcareous organization 
and anchylosis. 

In the anterior zone, tlie only serious lesion met with is caries 
of the OS pedis, characterized by great pain, continual lancination, 
loss of the use of the leg, and high reacting fever. There is 
abundant bloody and foetid suppuration, and the probe gives 
the sensation of the soft resistance of the bone, of its rough con- 
dition, and its partial fragility. The caries having most gener- 
ally a progressive march, complications of separation of the hoof, 
to a varying extent, are often seen ; the pus arrives at the surface, 
between hairs and hoof : and diffused gangrenes are also often 
seen, which extend as well to the podophyllous as to the velvety 
tissues. 

In the posterior zone, the only serious wounds are the lateral 
ones, which may injure the fibro-cartilage, and become compli- 
cated with their caries ; of quittor or fistula down to the lacunae 
of the frog, as we have seen in suppurating corn 

Nails may penetrate the posterior zone through and through, 
coming out behind the coronet without danger. The sub-horny 
suppuration may detach the frog and be the only serious compli- 
cation to be met with. 

As terminations of all these injuries we may see resolution, 
suppuration, gangrene, softening of the tendons and phalangeal 
arthritis, and as sequelae, bony tumors of the coronet, and anchy- 
losis. The most serious complications are the dropping of the 
entire hoof, the rupture of the tendons, tendinous and cartilagin- 
ous quittors, for the injured foot, and chronic laminitis for the 
opposite one. 

IV. Prognosis. — This varies according to the seat of the wound. 
Less serious in the posterior than in the anterior zone, it is less 
in the last than in the middle, where the region is so complicated 
and the nature of the tissues so different. The depth of tlie 
wound has also some influence on the prognosis. Wounds of the 
plantar aponeurosis are more dangerous than those of the plantar 
cushion ; those of the sesamoid sheath are more so than those of 
the aponeurosis ; they are still more serious if the bones are 



60 

affected ; the worst of all is that of the joint. The direction of 
the foreign body and its simple or complicated action, will also 
influence the prognosis. 

This, we have already said, can be established by the severity 
of the lameness. The nature of the foreign body must also be 
taken into consideration ; if blunt, which crushes the tissues, it is 
more dangerous than if sharp and pointed. In a flat or convex 
foot, punctured wounds are more serious than in a well-made 
foot. They are less serious in heavy than in light draught horses, 
as the former, though they may remain lame, are still useful. 
The excitable condition of a patient will also alter the prognosis. 
Wounds of the anterior feet are more serious than those of the 
posterior. 

V. Treatment. — In all cases, the first indication is to obtain a 
natural cicatrization and natural repair, always more rapid and 
perfect than that wliich is gained by surgical interference. This 
is generally easily secured, and for this reason it is important to 
avoid too severe manipulations upon the injured foot. One must 
watch the progress of the disease, give the foot as much rest as 
possible, remove the shoe, thin down in its whole extent the 
plantar hoof, so as to avoid any pressure, and keep the foot in a 
cooling bath — ordinary cold water, to which often is added acetate 
of lead, sulphate of iron, or common salt, very beneficially. Poul- 
tices cold, preferable to hot, give excellent results. By this treat- 
ment the progress of the inflammation is checked and very often 
deep and serious wounds, even those where the tendinous sheath 
has been injured, are easily cured. If the lameness gradually 
diminishes, the case rapidly gets well ; at any rate by this treats 
ment the inflammatory process is diminished, and the painful 
pressure of the hardened and thick hoof is avoided. 

In the winter, when cold baths are of difficult application, 
chloroformed or carbolized compresses may be applied round the 
foot. The hoof is thus softened, and the pain reduced. At other 
times a blister is applied round the coronet. 

If the lameness remains, or st«, xis to increase, it is due to 
tendinous necrosis or caries, and it becomes necessary to operate. 
Must the surgeon then have recourse to an operation, and make 



61 

a simple wound with his sharp instrument ? Or, is it still better 
to merely depend on natural resources, and assist them ? 

It is diflficult to lay down any special rules. If the disease is 
old, if the necrosis has progressed and is still increasing, a se- 
rious operation becomes necessary. If the necrosis is recent, one 
must be guided by external indications. Notwithstanding, (Re- 
raault remarks,) one should not be too hasty, as the animal must 
necessarily be laid up for several months afterwards. It is often 
sufficient, in a recently punctured wound, in order to avoid compli- 
cations, to modify the condition of the fibrous tissues in the whole 
extent of the lesion, by applying substances simply antiseptic, or 
still better, slightly caustic. Key employs the cold bath, in which 
he dissolves a pound of sulphate of copper for ten or fifteen 
quarts of water ; by this means he has secured the speedy recov- 
ery of severe punctured wounds. For a long time, and with the 
same object, we have been using a mixture of equal parts of sul- 
phate of copper and sulphate of iron, having first liollowed the 
foot downwards round the seat of the puncture, and the sole be- 
ing pared down as thin as could be borne. 

H. Bouley prefers the application of pulverized corrosive 
sublimate ; after tracing the wound to its bottom, he fills it well 
with tlie powder. This remedy was alread}' recommended by 
Solleysel, who used it in caries of the'os pedis. Other practitioners 
prefer phenic acid, and claim for it great advantages. By the 
actions of the caustics upon the fibrous tissues exposed to ne- 
crosis, or already in that condition, a double salutary result is ob- 
tained ; first, the transformation of the part, which is the seat of 
a progressing gangrene, into a chemical eschar; and, again, pro- 
moting the more active vascularization of the surrounding parts, 
and consequently their increased power of healthy reaction ; con- 
ditions twice favorable to the sloughing of the eschar, and the 
process of repair following it. 

When the wound has reached the os pedis, and this has be- 
come carious, a portion of the sole is removed, so that the sup- 
puration can escape, the bone is scraped off, and a dressing of 
carbolized alcohol applied, kept on by a thin shoe or slipper, 
with tin plates. 



62 

When there is a fistulous wound, through which synovia es- 
capes, yet not purulent, caustics are recommended. Solleyscl 
preferred these, but blacksmiths used ihem so carelessly that they 
soon were discarded. Since, however, they have been employed 
again, not in powder, but as trochiscus. Key recommends tlie 
corrosive sublimate in conic pencils, introduced to the bottom of 
tlie fistula ; by them he obtains an eschar, a solid clot, from the 
synovia, which closes up the wound and prevents the synovial 
flow, at the same time stimulating the granulations which close up 
the fistula. 

We have already said that these measures must be used only 
when the synovia is not purulent, as then the escape of morbid 
liquids may be prevented. It is not then uncommon to see ab- 
scesses forming at the back of the coronet ; generally not so 
serious as is usually believed ; not as much as those which take 
place in front and which are due to suppuration of the articula- 
tion. After the running out of those abscesses, sometimes the 
wound of the foot assumes a better aspect, the symptoms im- 
prove, and the animal recovers rapidly. Injections of a very 
weak solution of tincture of iodine, as well as the baths of cop- 
per or iron, are then very advantageous. Hertwig advises the in- 
troduction of a seton through the sesamoid sheath. 

This treatment is not always sufficient, especially where the 
lesions are deep. All the diseased structures must be then ex- 
posed, and they must be removed and the wound changed into a 
simple one, which well dressed, will heal without difliculty. The 
operation is required in proportion to the extent and nature of 
the lesion, and if this is recent, and comparatively superficial, if 
a piece of the foreign body yet remains in the wound, or if 
its removal has resulted in the sloughing of a small piece of 
dead tissue, it may be sufiicient, the foot being pared thin, as al- 
ready advised, to simply make an infundibuliform opening, various 
in size, so as to expose the bottom of the wound. For that pur- 
pose the drawing knife or the sage knife is used, a light 
shoe is put on, and a dressing of digestive ointment, aegyp- 
tiacum, or simply alcoholic mixtures, are kept on by plates. 
At times it is advantageous to assist the process of sloughing 



63 

by the use of caustics, sulphate of copper^ Villate's solution, 
tincture of iodine, &c. If the wound is near or at the heels, 
the branches of the shoe are shortened and an appropriate 
dressing is put on. Subsequent dressings require the same care. 
Cicatrization goes on and the hoof soon returns to its normal con 
dition. Sometimes the surgeon is called only when the inflamma- 
tion is far advanced and suppuration already established. This 
peculiar condition is manifested by the swelling and heat of the 
parts, the acute pains, and often the high fever. The wound then 
must be at once enlarged and the pus allowed to escape, and this 
is the true operation for deep punctured wounds. 

The operation becomes more serious if there is separation, 
partial or total, of the sole or frog, with a more or less advanced 
disorganization of the tissues underneath. If there is escape of 
purulent synovia, extensive cuttings are to be made. 

In olden times, to perform the operation of the deep punc- 
tured wound, the entire removal of the sole was performed, with- 
out distinction or exception, and, notwithstanding the severe pains 
following it. In our days a portion of separated sole or frog 
only is taken off. This is done by slices and only so far as neces- 
sary for the other steps of the operation. 

This operation is indicated when there is great pain, contin- 
uing without regard to what treatment has been followed. It is 
also when the plantar aponeurosis has assumed a greenish tint, 
diffused in its extent, without indication of a repairing process, 
with the marks of sloughing of the dead structure. The instru- 
ments required are various : sage knives, single and double ; draw- 
ing knives of various sizes ; a directory, bistouries and forceps. 

The animal, properly secured, and placed under anaesthetics, 
if too irritable, (Bouley), the horny structures are removed 
wherever the suppuration has separated them from the soft tis- 
sues beneath, or the sole is only pared down thin, as well as the 
horny frog in its whole extent. 

This first step of the operation completed, the operator intro- 
duces a directory into the whole tract of the fistula, and with 
a sharp sage knife a longitudinal incision is made, following the 
canulse of the directory as a guide, above and below the fistulous 



64 

opening, and in the direction of the antero-posterior axis of the 
foot. This done, with the sage knife held in full hand, with one 
cut the surgeon, by a deep incision, removes the greatest thick- 
ness of the tissues all round the longitudinal cut he has just made, 
transforming the fistulous tract into a conical infundibulum, 
whose apex is at the bottom of the wound. If then the aponeu- 
rosis is not yet exposed, the operator removes with the forceps 
and bistoury whatever tissues still cover it. 

Then follows the excision of the aponeurosis. This is meas- 
ured by the extent of the necrosis. As a rule, it must reach a 
little beyond the diseased part, and by that operation the puru- 
lent synovia finds a free chance to escape. 

If the sesamoid is sound, it must be left alone, but if the 
diathrodial surface is roughened, ulcerated and on the way to des- 
quaramation, it must be scraped off with the narrow and long 
drawing knife. 

The complications of arthritis cannot be interfered with by 
the surgeon. It is by general antiphlogistic treatment, and by 
local and external applications that they must be treated. 

The operation ended, the dressing follows, and becomes one 
of the most important parts of the means of recovery. As 
light a shoe as possible is placed on the foot, a coat of hoof 
ointment, Yenice turpentine, or tar, is applied upon the thinned 
sole ; pads of oakum wet with alcohol, carbolized or not, are then 
carefully laid on the soft parts. 

Some practitioners cover them with oegyptiacum, (Mandel) ; 
others simply with Venice turpentine (Lafosse.) 

The pads or balls of oakum must not be too thick or hard, as 
no pressure is needed. The whole dressing is retained by plates, 
and several circular straps of tape above the coronary band. Cold 
water baths are always good afterwards. 

In the subsequent dressings one must bear in mind that the 
work of repair, the granulating, is more rapid in the tissues of 
the plantar cushion and fleshy sole than upon the bone and ten- 
dinous tissue ; and that in this case it is longer than upon bone 
if this has been scraped. The result of this is a wound which 
presents various aspects in its progress of cicatization. It often 



65 

has a handsome granulating appearance over its entire surface, 
while at the bottom there may be a clot of coagulated synovia 
covering the surface of the sesamoid and the edges of the wound 
of the plantar aponeurosis. A free escape of synovia must al- 
ways be facilitated, and often the development of the granula- 
tions has to be controlled. If tlie cicatrization proceeds well and 
regularly, dressings need be changed but seldom, being satisfied 
with the cold bath, with copper solutions. 

Dressings can be made with tincture of myrrh or of aloes ; 
sometimes in the center with tincture of iodine. At times cans- 
tics are again used, while at others fragments of bone or of ten- 
don have to be excised. 

The entire doping of such a wound may sometimes take place 
in a month ; but often, even without complications, two and three 
are required. Complications may easily make their app.earance 
and interfere with the cicatrization. Sometimes pieces of 
necrosed tissues whicli remain at the bottom of the wound 
give rise to listulous tracts, until they are entirely removed. In 
this case, twice as long a time may be necessary to a cure. The 
pain and intensity of the lameness, after the operation, do not 
accurately indicate the nature of the disease ; the general phlog- 
osis, especially the synovial inflammation, always causes a special 
acute pain, which for from three to six weeks may prevent the 
animal from resting his foot on the ground. This pain is entirely 
independent of the process of repair, and must not alarm the 
veterinarian. While the reacting fever is absent, and there is a 
good appetite and no swelling in the region of the coronet, the 
progress may be considered satisfactory. 

After the cicatization of the plantar wound made during the 
operation, the parts may return to their physiological condition or 
nearly so ; or, on the contrary, remain in an entirely abnormal 
condition. Often, indeed, the sesamoid sheath may become ob- 
literated, the diarthrosidal surface has lost its smoothness and 
there is no more sliding upon it, the tendon having become 
united to it. The animal then remains lame, and cannot be 
utilized except in walking ; if coronary anchylosis, ringbones ai e 
detected, and the application of firing is indicated. Sometimes 
neurotomy gives excellent results. 



66 



CONTKACTED HEELS HOOF BOUND. 



Synonym : Zwanghuf^ German ; Encasleture, Frencli ; Tncas- 
tdlaiuray Italian ; Encatenadura, Spanish. 

This name has been given to a defect of the horse's foot, by 
which it becomes characterized by its general narrowness, more 
marked, however, in the posterior than the anterior part. It 
is especially marked by the diminution of the lateral diameter 
of the horny box, the deformity consisting in a greater or less 
contraction of the heels and of the quarters. 

It is principally observed in the fore feet, and it is there only 
that it presents the characters we are about to describe. This is 
due to the fact that in the fore legs there is need of a certain 
expansibility in the posterior part of the foot, which, especially 
during .the action of locomotion, receives the weight of the 
body; while the contraction of the hind feet, gives rise only to 
an ordinary form of lameness. Sometimes one of the anterior 
legs only is affected ; sometimes both, and in this latter case, the 
alteration is usually greater in one foot than in the other. Some 
horses are also seen whose feet are contracted only on one, usu- 
ally the inner side, while the other preserves its normal form and 
directions. 

Sometimes " hoof-bound " is only a simple deformit}'^, with- 
out lameness and without serious result. But in most cases, it 
constitutes a very serious affection, which renders many horses 
useless and almost without value. It is of more common occur- 
rence than is generally admitted, and gives rise to many other 
affections of the foot. Cases of lameness treated as located in 
the shoulder, or as navicular disease, are very often nothing but 
the result of commencing contraction of tlie heels. True navicu- 
lar arthritis and hoof -bound are closely related. "Whether the 
disease of the sesamoid slieath, arising primitively brings on the 
subsequent contraction ; whether the contraction already existing 
gives rise to the alteration of structure which constitutes the 
disease so named, cannot always be determined. Hoof-bound was 
known in old times, and the oldest hippiatrics have proposed 
means to cure it. Kiders especially have studied it, because the 



67 

disease is most common in fine saddle horses, whose feet are 
small. It is frequent in Turkish and Spanish horses, and ani- 
mals from the Pyrencan districts, but common horses are not 
exempt from it. 

H. Bouley describes two forms of the disease, the true and 
the pretended or false contraction. In the first, the hoof is 
very narrow, sometimes even concave on its lateral face, to such 
an extent that its antero-posterior considerably exceeds its trans- 
verse diameter ; while at the same time its wall is more vertical, 
and the heels considerably higher than normal, and the foot looks 
like that of a mule, of which this is recognized as the normal 
appearance. In the false contraction, there is merely a diminution 
of the tranversal diameter of the horny box in its posterior parts, 
the foot being narrow and contracted at tl'.e heels only. 

We prefer to recognize a total contraction where the whole 
foot is contracted, and is smaller than its fellow ; atrophied, so to 
speak ; consisting in a contraction of the quarter — when it is 
principally narrow in those quarters, the condition extending back 
to the heels — and a contraction of the heels when this is well 
marked from the quarters to the heels only. A coronary and 
a plantar contraction 1 ave also been designated, depending upon 
whether it occurs at the superior or inferior part of the foot, and 
there are cases wliere the contraction is intermediate, that is, in 
the middle of the foot only, while it has its normal size, both 
at the coronary band and at the plantar border. Single and 
complicated contractions have also been named. It is admitted 
that it may be congenital, though rare ; most often, however, it is 
developed by itself, as a result of special causes. 

I. Syinptoins. — The physiognominal aspect of the hoof-bound 
foot is characteristic, and it is by this that we shall begin the 
symptomatology of the disease. When the disease is total, the 
complete general dimensions of the foot are observed to be 
smaller than would be required by the size of the animal 
affected ; most frequently the hoof has an oval form, conse- 
quent upon the antero-posterior diameter exceeding the lateral, 
which is generally diminished. In the contraction of the quarters, 
the narrow condition of the foot is specially marked from the centre 



68 

of the quarters back to the heels. In contraction of the heels, the 
diminution is very marked from the centre of the quarters to the 
end of the lieels, so that the two sides of the wall convero-e to- 
wards each other posteriorly in following a nearly straight line, 
instead of the circular appearance of the normal state, and the 
heels have principally lost their round appearance, and are 
elongated, and even pointed in appearance. The wall, in the 
regions where the contraction is more marked, that is, behind, 
is either perpendicular to the ground, or even oblique down- 
wards and inwards, in such a way that the coronary circum- 
ference is greater than the plantar, and consequently it repre- 
sents an inverted truncated cone. 

The opposite form of contraction, that of the coronary, is 
seldom seen, and we may ignore it. The wall is irregularly 
rough and ramy, and without its shining appearanee. The 
heels are generally high, nearly as high as the toe, though it is 
not so severely altered in cases where the heels only are con- 
tracted. As a consequence of the contraction of the plantar 
border of the wall, the sole seems to become folded in the direc- 
tion of its antero-posterior axis, and it shows a much greater 
concavity on its internal face than in the normal state. This 
cavity is then filled by the frog, considerably reduced in size, 
thus presenting an idea of the severity of the contraction. Most 
frequently it is a thin, thready body, flattened on its sides by the 
closing of the bars ; its branches, thin and narrow, resembling 
two bands so closely resting on each other, that the lacuna 
which separates them is no more than a narrow fissure, which 
will scarcely admit the introduction of the thin blade of a knife, 
and from the bottom of which escapes a sero-purulent, gray or 
blackish liquid ; the lateral lacunae being also transformed into 
two narrow and deep fissures, tilled with the same fluid. The 
bars, generally high, assume a direction perpendicular to the 
ground, instead of being oblique, as in the normal state, from 
the centre of the foot towards its circumference. 

In all the regions of the foot, but especially at the wall, the 
horn is so dry and hard that sharp implements cannot cut its corti- 
cal covering, while it is at the same time brittle, and hence nu- 



69 

merous superficial fissures appear at the quarters, and the outside 
and inside toes, the frog itself being hollowed by fissures upon its 
body and its branches. Sometimes it happens that the bars show 
deep fissures, running from above downwards, to the extremity of 
the lateral lacunge, which are thuti continued l)y a crack of the 
heel up to the skin of the coronary band. Tiiere is often a sepa- 
ration of the wall and the sole, the formation of what has been 
called a double wall, or false quarter. Quarter cracks are com- 
monly met with it. Corns are frequently seen also in connection 
with it. 

Whatever may be the form of the contraction, it is generally 
accompanied by pain, manifested by change of position while at 
rest and by lameness when in action. 

If only on one side, the affected leg is carried forward, and 
thus relieved from the too painful pressure which would take 
place if it remained in a vertical direction under the centre cf 
gravity. When both feet are diseased, the horse is constantly 
moving and balancing himself, pointing the legs alternately and 
sometimes stretching both legs forward, as in laminitis, but always 
moving, so as to push his bedding under him and away from his 
fore feet. 

If the pain is slight, there is only a stiff gait, and the ani- 
mal hesitates and stumbles easily. But if the disease is advanced 
the lameness is great and the animal is very groggy in his gait. 
He fears to rest on his heels, which without being a peculiar 
characteristic is a symptom which presents, however, a particu- 
larly noticeable condition. While there is hesitation in the action 
of resting, there is difficulty in that of the shoulder. This is 
principally observable when the disease affects both feet. The 
shoulders then seem to be fixed to the trunk, and their motion 
forward is very limited. The symptoms are mostly more marked 
when the animal leaves the stable. It may then happen that the 
pain temporarily losing somewhat of its intensity as the horse 
is moved, the shoulders become more free, the liberty of action 
returns, and once warmed up, the animal may offer a totally 
different appearance from that when first leaving the stable. 
But as soon as they become rested, the pain returns as severely 



70 

as before, if not more so, and with it the same exhibition of 
symptoms. 

The examination of the unshod foot while it is warm, shows 
the extreme sensibility of the heels. The foot being pared, gen- 
erally one may observe, in the region where the contraction is 
most marked, yellowish or reddish discolorations, evidences of 
the bruises in the living parts, as well as of the serous or bloody 
exudations which have taken place on their surfaces. These 
indications are especially abundant on the level of the sole and 
wall. If the contraction is old, there is at that point a pul- 
verulent mass which when removed, leaves a cavity wliich some- 
times extends upwards under the quarters. It is a separation 
of the wall, of two or three centimeters in depth. 

An important observation for hoof -bound, and which assists 
in its recognition, is the increased wear upon the shoes at the 
toe, which takes place not only when animals are working, but 
also while idle in the stable as the result of pointing and scrap- 
ing the stable floor. The horse which has both feet diseased 
is constantly in motion, to such an extent that his shoes are 
entirely worn in a few days. 

At times tlie pain is so great that it gives rise to general 
symptoms ; the animal becomes anxious, loses his appetite, re- 
fuses his food, lies down most of the time, and rises only with 
difficulty. 

II. Complications. — We have already seen that qxLarter cracks 
and dry corns are common affections of contracted feet. Exos 
tosis of the phalangeal region is also commonly met in such feet, 
especially side-bones. Knuckling, and diseases of the tendons 
and of their sheaths are also often caused by contractions of the 
feet. The rest of the foot on its whole surface is thus perverted 
and the tendons become retracted, painful and swollen. 

Navicular disease is so often met with in company with con- 
tracted feet, that one disease is frequently mistaken for the 
other. 

Laminitis has been said to be also one of the complications ; 
if so, it is at least, quite rare in its occurrence. 

Tetanus has sometimes been observed among its associations, 



71 

and Hartman attributes the development of so-called idiopathic 
cases of that disease, to this condition of the feet. 

The emaciation of the affected leg is a complication seen 
also, with other forms of lameness. 

III. Pathological A7iatomy. — We have indicated the external 
changes of tlie hoof. The tissues that have been long enclosed 
in the contracted foot become atrophied ; molecular changes do 
not take place as in tiie normal state ; they become changed in 
aspect, composition and properties ; they become denser and 
more compact, and are no more able to fulfil, to the same extent, 
their physiological functions. 

The plantar cushion is so completely pressed upon itself that 
the stratified structure of its fibrous layers can scarcely be dis- 
tinguished, and the presence in the interstices of the yellow 
fibrous substance is with difticulty observed. It forms only a 
homogeneous mass, whitish in color, resisting in consistency, and 
lardaceous in aspect. The dilated bulbs which are above the 
cushion are also considerably diminished in size, and present, 
when cut through, a uniform white color, its composing substance 
being reduced to a single inelastic mass. 

The unguial phalanx becomes deformed by degress, loses its 
circular shape and becomes of an elongated oval form. Its lat- 
eral faces assume a perpendicular direction ; its structure is 
modified ; its substance becomes more compact, and the small 
vascular openings are obliterated, while the largest are incj-eased 
in size. Its work of obliteration is specially observable at the 
patilobe eminences, which seem to be cruslied. The lateral car- 
tilages are also much compressed, condensed and modified in 
their structure. 

The navicular bone is also compressed, the sheath and its 
support not allowing the easy play of the tendons, and it is in this 
way that navicular disease may follow hoof bound. But there is 
a specially noticeable modification in the keratogenous apparatus, 
which, as a consequence of the arterial obliterations, fails to 
receive freely and actively the necessary amount of blood. 
The horny secretion proper to the podophyllous tissue, the white 
or soft horn, is reduced ; the podophyllous tissue itself is atro- 



72 

phied ; its lamellae are less prominent and their separations are 
diminished in depth ; the adherence of the podophyllous or ker- 
aphyllous tissues still exists where the circulation of the blood is 
not interrupted, but beyond, they are easily separated and often 
present deep excavations towards the sole. 

If hoof bound advances slowly, the same atrophy of the sub- 
horny tissues takes place. Then, however, it proceeds l)y degrees, 
the tissues accommodating themselves in size to the gradually 
diminishing dimensions of the cavity where they are contained, 
and there is an equal proportion between the size of the lioof 
and the volume of the tissues enclosed in it. These being less 
compressed, there is less pain. In this njanner an excessive con- 
traction of the heels may sometimes exist without marked lame- 
ness. 

IV. Prognosis. — This is the more serious as the disease is 
more developed. Total hoof bound is excessively tenacious, and 
resists the best curative measures, though if there is only a slight 
contraction at the heels, it is generally amenable to judicious 
treatment. The duration of the disease is an important factor in 
the question of the succes of the treatment, as the condition of 
the OS coronse, os pedis, navicular bone, sesamoid sheath, plantar 
(uishion and the atrophy of the kerotogenous membranes have 
all to be taken into consideration. 

The age of the diseased animal and any existing complications 
are, of course, circumstances which influence the prognosis in an 
important degree. 

V. Etiology. — Hoof bound, says H. Bouley, is not a simple 
fact, produced by a unique cause acting always in the same man- 
ner; it is, on the contrary, a very complex one, to the production 
of which a great number of causes of various character and in- 
tensity contribute with sinuiltaneous or successive effects. 

The hygrometic condition of the horny substance is a princi- 
pal feature in the etiology of the disease. It is when the hoof 
loses by evaporation the moisture which it should contain that 
it contracts as all organic substances do, and its flexibility returns 
when l)y a sufficiently long immersion in a liquid, the moisture 
that it has lost is recovered. Observation proves that this dis- 



T3 

ease often finds the conditions of its presence in circumstances 
which induce dryness in the part. In such cases the foot has the 
property of retracting, to an extreme degree, especially towards 
its posterior extremity, where the frog is situated, constituted as 
it is of a softer and more depressible substance than that of the 
wall. The same phenomenon takes place in the living 
structure that is observed upon the hoofs of dead feet ; 
a phenomenon which cannot even be prevented by filling 
their cavity with plaster. During life the hoof is con- 
stantly permeated by a current of fluids which penetrate it 
from its depth to the surface. It is the serous fluid that the hoof 
is continually absorbing by the hygroscopic properties common 
in living tissues, which counterbalance the tendency of the foot 
to retract upon itself and keep it in tbe dimensions required for 
the perfect reception of the parts it covers. So long as the 
equilibrium is preserved between the loss of this fluid by evapo- 
ration and its renewal through the perspiration of the keratoge- 
nous apparatus, the hoof preserves its physiological form; but 
if this equilibrium is destroyed by an excess of the loss, then the 
condition occurs for the retraction of the hoof and the infliction 
upon the parts underneath of an excessive and painful pressure. 

This explains why, as proved by observation, lameness in gen- 
eral and that of contracted heels especially, is more frequent in 
warm than in moist seasons. Long standing in the stable is also 
an eflicient producing cause. The feet become dry upon a con- 
stantly dry bedding, and here also the influence of inaction must 
be taken into account. The disease is commonly found in stabu- 
lation, but seldom when the animal is in pasture ; and when it 
has existed it often disappears in the latter circumstances. 

The alternation of dampness and dryness also influences per- 
haps more the genesis of the disease than dryness alone. A foot 
too much impregnated with dampness, which is afterwards left to 
the air, becomes harder than a normal one placed in the same 
conditions. It retracts easier also. It is probable that the water, 
in softening the superficial layers of the wall, also renders the 
evaporation of the liquids of its deep parts more active. In the 
ordinary condition of the foot, the evaporation is diminished by 
the impermeability of the external hoof^ which it owes to its den- 



u 

sity ; but where this hoof is softened by maceration, its fibres, 
partly disintegrated by the dissolution of the glutinous sub- 
stance which keeps them as a compact mass, allow the air to 
penetrate in their interspaces ; air which dries them to a certain 
deptli ; lience a proportionate movement of retraction of the en- 
tire hoof upon itself. This evil effect of an excess of moisture 
explains how it is that poultices or otlier moist applications which 
horse attendants abuse so frequently, may give rise to results en- 
tirely opposite to the one in view, and why the hoof becomes dry 
and brittle, if not contracted. These topical applications take off 
from the cortical layer of the foot its protecting varnish, and ex- 
pose it to lose its water of growth. 

Some of the practices in shoeing contribute also to the desicca- 
tion of the hoof ; such is principally tliat which consists in rasp- 
ing the wall from the coronary band to the plantar border; as 
also the too long continued contact of a hot shoe with the 
foot. Shoeing itself promotes the same result, as, protected by a 
shoe, the foot no longer wears normally and grows beyond nor- 
mal limits. The mass of hoof, which, in the process of growth, 
has gone beyond the inferior limits of the podophyllous fissures, 
is no longer in contact with the living parts beneath, and they 
cease to be impregnated by the fluids which are thus constantly 
allowed to evaporate. It then dries up by evaporation and be- 
comes hard, and retracts upon itself in such a manner that the 
circumference of the foot in the lateral diameter diminishes more 
or less, especially posteriorly, and thus forces the incurvations of 
the sole and of the bars (H. Bouley). If a horse remains shod 
for several months without having his feet trimmed and pared by 
the blacksmith, these are seen contracting by degrees, as they in- 
crease in length, and soon assume the aspect of hoof -bound. 

But these are not the only effects of shoeing in the etiology 
of contraction. On the contrary, this practice is the most 
common cause of this lesion of the hoof, if not practiced with 
the intelligence it requires. We have said, in speaking of corns, 
that they were proofs of bad shoeing. The same might be said 
of the contraction. Moreover, corns generally indicate great 
errors in shoeing, while hoof-bound demonstrates the ignorance 
of the physiology of the hoof, which in action must enjoy the 



75 

necessary elasticity to relieve the contact with the weight 
of the body upon the ground. No doubt the theory of 
Bredey Clark exaggerates the degree of elasticity in admitting a 
great power of dilatation of the hoof, but it is an opposite excess 
to denj' it entirely. The dilatation of the hoof, though limited, 
is evident at the heels ; especially on feet which have never been 
shod (Merche.) There is especially in the inside of the foot, 
in the soft and supple parts, a certain compressibility of the 
hoof, which is often overlooked, and which is interfered with by a 
too narrow or unmethodical shoeing. 

The external dilatation of the hoof is comparatively limited, 
but on the inside of the hoof there is, in the posterior part of the 
fool, (especially in the fore feet) a movement downwards and 
outwards of the os pedis, for whether the normal elasticity of 
the hoof is necessary, either by the physical and physiological 
constitution or the arrangement of the constituent parts of the 
hoof. Quite often then, shoeing, especially if too tight, resists 
the internal pressure. Even admitting that tlie dilatation of the 
heel is normal, shoeing which would prevent it would always pro- 
duce, at the time of rest, a pressure upon the hoof which would 
limit the compressibility of the deep, soft tissues. The frog 
•especially, formed of a softer horn, and placed under the plantar 
cushion, must receive this gradual pressure, which diminishes by 
degrees as the hoof becomes harder, and is reduced considerably 
as it reaches the external horny layers. 

The errors committed in shoeing, and which predispose to 
hoof-bound, vary. The first is the manner in which the foot is 
pared ; too often the heels are lowered to excess, while the toe 
is allowed to remain too long ; too often, again, the bars are 
hollowed too deeply, thinned too much, as well as the frog. The 
wall then tends to retreat, as it is no longer protected behind. 
In reducing the height of the heels, in opening them, the tendency 
to contraction is increased ; the thinned hoof dries up, the 
lowered heels lose their strength, and the bars are unable to per- 
form their functions. 

A vicious adjustment also contributes to contraction. When 
the shoe is so prepared that its upper face is concave, and its 
branches form a plane inclined from without inwards, and when 



76 

this face extends back to the heels, there is a circular pressure 
produced upon the inferior border of the wall. This is a case 
in which the foot has a tendency to drop, pressed in as it also is 
by the weight of the body as the foot rests on the ground. 

Another wrong practice is to place the nails too near the heels. 
The fixing of the shoe on the foot tends always to produce con- 
traction, as Bredey Clark observed ; it especially prevents the 
widening of the hoof, as remarked by Rodet and Coleman. But 
this effect of the nails is well marked at the heels, where they 
prevent the dilatation of that part of the foot. 

These effects of shoeing are to be observed so much the more 
rapidly and seriously when the hoof is thicker, denser, and of a 
finer structure, as it is observed in small feet. In these feet, the 
hoof grows more rapidly, and is on this account more ready to con- 
tract. Let us now consider that this effect of shoeing is permanent, 
and that to that effect of a first shoeing comes to be added that of 
a second, of a third, and so on, and we can readily understand 
how truly the great number of contracted heels one may meet 
with can be attributed to erroneous shoeing. 

Inaction is also an important cause, as, says Turner, the 
horse is by nature destined to be always in motion ; it is a con- 
dition of its health, and it is on account of this condition that in 
the state of nature, he is free from contracted heels. It is, on the 
contrary, because the domesticated horse is confined within a 
stall for hours and days, that his feet become contracted. We 
have seen colts raised without exercise, whose feet were con- 
tracted before they were shod. 

Contraction of the heels is often the result of other diseases 
of the hoof, and of other lameness. It is commonly associated 
with corns, navicular disease, punctured wounds of the plantar 
region, accompanied with long sensitiveness of the posterior parts 
of the foot ; after diseases of the frog ; thrushes ; side bones ; 
phalangeal articular diseases ; in fact, after all affections of long 
standing, even if they have their seat in the upper segment of 
the frog. • 

Finally, heredity has been named as one of the causes. This 
cannot be denied as to some breeds, principally of meridional 
climates, as a consequence of the organization of their feet, 



77 

which are usually small. The proposition has, however, we be- 
lieve, been exaggerated. This is proved by the Arabian horse, 
which, though accused of the vicious conformation from heredity, 
has according to Yallon, Crompton, and others, the most ad- 
mirable conformation of his feet, when it has not been shod. It 
is broad, with good heels, neither too high nor too low, well open, 
well prominent, wide frog, the external wall being strong and 
well developed. In horses of Caramania, Anatolia, Sja-ia, and 
those of the Arabs, which are constantly in the desert, from 
Bagdad and Bassora to the Gnlf of Persia, the foot is handsomely 
made, and free from contractions when it has been exempted 
from shoeing. 

VI. Treatment. — Prophylaxy plays an important part in the 
treatment of this disease. It is easier, and especially more rational, 
to prevent than to cure it when once established. 

One of the first indications is to prevent the drying of the 
hoof, to effect which baths and poultices have been commonly 
used — the latter formed of cow manure, of clay, etc. — or by the 
application of greasy substances, in order to diminish the evapora- 
tion of the water of the hoof. Some practitioners are accustomed 
to use tar and various hoof ointments. The number of prepara- 
tions brouglit into use is considerable, and in respect 1;o some of 
these, the secret of which has been kept by the inventors, the 
effects have been entirely different, and the hoof, instead of pre- 
serving its natural good condition, has been altered in its qualities. 
" It is not with ointment," says Hartmann, " that the hoof injured 
by the blacksmith can be repaired. It is by good shoeing, and 
never otherwise. The workman, to excuse himself, attributes to 
the quality of the hoof the origin of the mischief he has done." 
Hoof ointment never gives to the hoof its natural polish, but 
many ointments, by becoming rancid, take off that which the 
blacksmith has left. The irritating ingredients which compose 
them sometimes produce the same results. This does not mean 
that a reasonable application of ointment is not necessary ; but to 
act favorably it is essential that one coat should be carefully re- 
moved before the application of another. Otherwise, the new 
will fail of its proper effect, and on the contrary, the old coat, by 



78 

its alteration, will give rise to a deterioration of the hoof, espec- 
ially in affecting the substance which unites the horny elements, 
and would reduce it to fine powder. And, again, ordinarily it is 
only the wall which is greased, the hoof of the sole and of tlie 
frog being left without, though they may be in equal need of it. 
The best lioof ointment is made of lard, a small quantity of wax 
or turpentine, sometimes mixed with tar. Glycerine is very use- 
ful, to give the hoof suppleness when it has become hard ; it is 
applied by friction, after the foot has been well washed and dried. 
In the majority of cases it is preferable to poultices, to mucilagi- 
nous baths, or to keratophylous ointments. 

Greasing is necessary for horses which are much exposed to 
dampness, and is as good for the sole and frog as for the wall. It 
is applicable, also, to feet which have to stand on dry bedding 
Feet which, on account of diseased conditions, require to be fre- 
quently soaked or poulticed, ought also be greased. Bedding of 
fine sand and of sawdust has been recommended. It is well, also, 
to place horses upon marshy lands. All these measures may be 
advantageous if the feet are properly shod. 

Good shoeing is the essential prophylaxy of hoof-bound ; we 
must avoid all improper practices likely to promote desiccation 
and contraction of the foot, such as abuse of the rasp ; too long 
application of the heated shoe when fitting it to the foot ; the 
lowering of the heels ; the excessive paring of the frog or of the 
bars ; the bad fitting of the shoe ; useless caulks ; too many nails 
in the quarter or near the heels — all these errors must be care- 
fully avoided. The foot, moreover, must not be allowed to grow 
too long. The shoeing should be renewed at least monthly, even 
if the shoe is not worn. And lastly, the horse must not be al- 
lowed too long periods of inactivity. 

It has been proposed to abolish the custom of shoeing, but in 
the present conditions and modes of using the horse this is im- 
possible. The feet, deprived of their accustomed protection, 
would soon become painful, and only by keeping the animal in 
the country could the feet be suffered to remain unshod. 

Several modes of shoeing have been invented to prevent con- 
tractions in feet v/hich are predisposed to them. Some are un- 



79 

doubtedly beneficial, but they must be used as an ordinary shoe- 
ing, and not reserved until the access of the disease. Good 
ordinary shoeing is often all that is required, but no doubt better 
and quicker results will be obtained by the slioe with short 
branches, with the flat shoe, or with the Charlier shoe. 

The half shoe, the shoe loith short branches {fer a croissant), 
originally recommended by Cesar Fiaschi, then by Solleysel, 
Lafosse, Sr., and Crompton, is an ordinary shoe, made light, with 
very short branches (fig. 7), which when put on protects the toe, the 




Fig. 7. 

mammse (outside or inside toe), and the anterior parts of the 
quarter in such a manner that the parts posterior to these remain 
uncovered, and rest directly on the ground. Thus shod, the shoe 
is almost in its natural condition ; it rests on the ground by its 
posterior part, and the heels are made to contribute to the move- 
ment of expansion of the elastic parts of the foot. This shoe 
then, has real advantages, if the posterior part of the foot is yet 
normal, but if the heels are low and the frog atrophied, it ceases to 
be of service. 

The fiat shoe, or the shoe with hase {fer a siege), first recom- 
mended by Osmer, Morcroft, and more recently by Miles, Einsie- 
del and Hartmann, is the style generally adopted at the present 



80 

time in Saxony, and in various parts of Germany, as well as in 
England. In France it has found its way through the benefits 
observed by a few veterinarians. It is a shoe almost equal in 
thickness to its width, square, so to speak, but as light as possi- 
ble ; the internal border of the foot surface being hollowed or 
dished in order not to come in contact with the sole, wliile the 
part whicli rests on the plantar border of the wall is perfectly flat 
and horizontal. The heel portion is rounded, and covers mostly 
the heels of the foot where the borders of the shoe become per- 
fectly adapted to the borders of the wall, to the remotest part of 
the lieels, and preserves the same contour until it reaches the frog. 
The shoe nowhere projects beyond the border of the wall ; it is 
only towards the toe that it is slightly raised, and lias a small 
clip. The groove of the English shoe renders its application 
better than the peculiar nail holes of the French. Five or six 
nails are usually sufficient. This shoe allows the dilatation of the 
foot in all its limits, and while protecting the heels, does not pre- 
dispose to their contraction. For its application, the plantar border 
only needs paring. That of the sole, the frog and the bars must 
be carefully avoided. 

For the shoeing of Charlier^ ox peri-plantar (fig. 8 and 9), only 




Fig. 8. 



Fijx. 9. 



St 

the part of the hoof which is most exposed is protected. It pre- 
serves entirely all the other parts of the plantar surface in such a 
way that, as in the conditions of nature, it is only by the fact of 
the wearing of the shoe that the excess of hoof is gradually re- 
moved. The foot shod by this process is provided at its inferior 
border with a metallic bar, often greater in thickness than in 
width, lodged in a groove made exclusively in the wall. This bar 
adapts itself in its internal circumference to the contour of the 
sole, which projects beyond the border of the groove, because all 
its thickness has been preserved as well as that of the frog and of 
the bars. In this way the rest of the foot receives its adjust- 
ment from the shoe itself, and by the regions of the plantar sur- 
face which it surrounds. This result does not, however, take 
place immediately, or when the foot is recently shod ; but by 
degrees and as the shoe wears out, the time arrives wlien the 
horse walks both on his shoe and the sole of his foot. Owing to 
the general equalization of the friction, any partial wear is tlius 
diminished, and the important result is secured, of reducing the 
weight of the shoe without the necessity of too frequent renewals, 
experience having proved that for the fore feet it is quite as dura- 
ble as the ordinary shoe of twice its weight, but which from the 
manner in which it is applied suffers, unaided, the effects of the 
pressure and friction. (II. Bouley.) As in the action of paring 
the foot only the projecting portions of the wall at the inferior 
border are removed, the preserved parts of the plantar region 
resist the movement of retraction, and thus prevent its occurrence 
in a transverse direction. Again, as the thickness of tlie Charlier 
shoe is greater than its width, it possesses a certain elasticity and 
adapts itself to the successive movements of the dilatation and 
contraction of the horny box, however limited they may be. 

We may now refer to some special modes of shoeing, recom- 
mended as preventive of contracted lieels, but which seem to us 
to possess inferior advantages to the preceding. We first find 
the unilateral shoe of Turner, which, according to that veterina- 
rian, relieves the foot from pressure upon the heels by placing 
the nail holes on the toe and the external branch only. Turner 
recommends also the conservation of the frog and that of the 



82 

bars, and it is probably to this that the success he has obtained 
by that mode of shoeing is due. 

Coleman recommended a shoe very thick at the toe and thin 
at the heels, the toe being three times as thick as the heels. This 
veterinarian tliought that by this shoe the animal was obliged to 
rest on liis frog ; at the same time the nails were driven in the 
toe principally, so as to allow the dilatation of the heels. This 
shoe has no ]-eal advantages, and predisposes to corns. 

The har shoe is of some utility when the frog is well devel- 
oped, by placing on that part the pressure of the foot, and leaving 
the heels free. Bnt it often fails in contracted heels, because in 
applying it these parts require to be pared down, in order to in- 
crease the prominence of the frog, and a condition is tlius pro- 
duced vvliich does not exist in contracted feet. The same may be 
said of the Charlier har shoe. The objections stated and the 
reasons suggested are true of all the various shoes designed to 
adjust the frog-pressure. 

The hinge-shoe or articulated (fig. 10 and 11) of Bray, Clark, and 





Fig. 10. Fig. 11. 

Yatel, and the half -shoe of Sempastous, of Peillard, also possess 
but a doubtful utility. Practice has not confirmed the hopes of 
their inventors. They are difficult to make, easily injured, and 
of small solidity, and their advantages are wholly of the problem- 
atic order. 

Mayer has recommended a shoe whose internal border is 



83 

thicker than the external, in such u way that the plane of the 
plantar surface of the shoe shall be inclined outwards, and instead 
of the concavity of the ordinary shoe, where the foot is pressed 
when in a position of rest, there is a convexity which promotes 
and even increases the dilatation of the foot. This mode of shoe- 
ing has for its inconvenience the exposure of the sole to contu- 
sions. It supposes an extensive expansion of the foot which is 
not natural; the horizontal plane is amply sufficient in ordinary 
circumstances. We have, however, used it advantageously in 
preventing the pressure of the sole against the shoe by means of 
a sheet of gutta percha. We have used it in almost complete 
contraction, and we think we have noticed, with Hartmann, that 
the dilatation once started by a mechanical means, not too 
severely applied, nature continues it, with the assistance of that 
style of shoe. Instead of giving that special shape of tlie shoe in 
its entire length, it has been proposed to have it only at the 
branches ; each heel presenting at its internal border a thickness, 
double or even treble that of the external, by which the shoe is 
inclined outwards by its plantar and becomes horizontal by the 
ground face. It is flat at the toe and the quarters, and is the 
shoe with slq^J^ers of de la Broue, of Solleysel (fig. 12), and that 




F.g. 1-i. 



84 



recently Yatiin has used in proposing to have the internal half of 
the width of the shoe inclined. It thus resembles the shoe genete 
or with ears, of which wc shall speak hereafter. This shoe is 
only indicated when tlic heels are already contracted ; they have 
no indication as propliylactic shoeing. 

The shoe with slippers is indeed a shoe which in some cases 
may cure contraction. " If the results obtained have not been 
very satisfactory," says Defays, " this depends not upon the shoe, 
but arises from the defective manner in which the foot was pared. 
To be efficacious in that shoeing the heels must be left alone, and 
the sole and the bars must be v/ell thinned. It is true that in 
this way the foot is in the most favorable condition for contrac- 
tion, but the circulation is rendered easier in the tissues under- 
neath, and the effects of the thinning of the hoof are diminished 
by the resistance opposed to tlie contraction by the inclined planes 
of the branches of the slipper. The same may be said of the 
shoe of de Belleville, also recommended by Sollcysel, and for 
whose applications the foot has to be carefully pared. We feel 
assured of the propriety of recommending the use of the inclined 
plane of the branches of the shoe, witli the presence of a small 
clip on the inner borders of the heels, such as proposed by 
Watrin. 

Attempts have been made to dilate the contracted foot and 
to cause its return to its normal dimensions by mechanical means. 
The shoe with ears (fig. 13) has been devised for this purpose. 




Fitf. 13. 



85 

This is a shoe provided on the inner border of each heel with an 
oblique, blunt, sometimes perpendicular clij), resting upon the 
bars, which have been previously hollowed out for its reception, 
the design of which is to resist the return of the hoof which has 
been diluted, to its former contracted condition. Ruinien had 
spoken of this shoe as early as 1618. It was put on, after the 
dilatation of the hoof with the farrier's nippers, applied on each 
side of the quarter, the sole being entirely removed. In our days 
this operation of removing tlie sole is considered useless, and in- 
stead of tlie nippers of the farrier, dilators are used, under tlie 
name of sj^^eaders (Desencasteleur). The oldest known form is 
that of Jarrier (fig. 14). This is composed of two curved 




Fig. 14. 
branches, 11 centimetres in length, articulated at one of their ex- 
tremities like the ordinary compass, at which point there is a 
screw of peculiar form by which the branches arc closed or 
opened at will, the other extremity having a strong claw project- 
ing outwards. These claws are applied inside of the bars, towards 
tlie heels, which are previously thinned out, and by manipulating 
the screw the Ijoof is dilated to the extent desired. The shoe is 
then used like an ordinary one, both heels being armed with a 
clip on the internal border, the clips resting on the heels of the 
foot, which have been first opened with the drawing knife. This 
mode of treatment proved successful with Lafosse and others 
who experimented with it at the Saumur school. Under various 
experiments, the Desencasteleur has changed its form. Thus, 
Lafosse has arranged the two branches to run separately upon a 



86 

transversal rod like an ordinary vice, in which form the branches 
are shorter, and more power is obtained (tig. 15). There are 




Fig. 15. 

many other improvements which we cannot mention for lack of 
space. 

Instead of applying the dilatation upon the hoof, and after- 
wards using a shoe which is closely adapted to the dilatation thus 
obtained, spreading shoes have been used. In the method of 
Jarrier, the shoe has to maintain the hoof in the condition of 
dilatation which has been accomplished by the instruments of 
expansion. It is a very delicate and difficult operation, so far as 
the proper dilatation of the foot is concerned, requiring the 
closest adaptation between the clips of the shoe and the parts of 
the wall upon which they rest. An error of a few millimetres 
only is sufficient to defeat the desired result ; and the shoe, 
moreover, must be taken off at each operation. To avoid this, 
special shoes, which would act also as dilators, were invented. It 
was not, however, a new idea ; Lagueriniere had as early as 1Y33 
prepared a shoe composed of three pieces — one median, corres- 
ponding to the toe, and two laterals, in connection with the 
quarters; these latter are respectively articulated with the first, 
and have each three nail-holes. When this shoe was fixed upon 
a foot, whether unsoled or not, its branches were spread apart by 
a plate left in place, and by increasing by degrees the length of 
the plate, a gradual and increasing dilatation of the hoof was ob- 
tained. Gaspard Saunier improved upon this shoe by placing 
on the internal border of the branches, cranks, with a plate placed 



87 

crosswise and resting upon them (fig. 16). The objection to this 
shoe is that it cannot remain on the foot except when the animal 




Fig. 16. 

is at rest, as wlien he is at work it soon becomes loosened ; 
besides which it is difficwlt to make properly. 

Rolland has contrived an articulated shoe, in three pieces, the 
two lateral pieces being kept apart by double steel springs, which 
press upon them from the toe on their internal border, and thus 
effect the desired dilatation. Hatin has a simpler shoe (fig. 17). 




Fig. 17. 

It is a light shoe, with nail-holes distant from the heels, and pro- 
vided on the internal border with a small clip upon which rests a 
V spring, fixed by its point upon the toe of the shoe. The 
branches of the spring lodge in the hollows of the sole and of the 
frog, and press upon the shoe, and thus produce a slow dilatation. 



Steinhoff has also invented a shoe with springs. It has recently 
been proposed to obtain the dilatation by means of a strong sole 
of caiitchouc, placed between the shoe and the foot, leaving the 
frog full ; very thin where it rests upon the shoe and the foot, 
and becoming thicker towards the inner border of the shoe, which 
it overlaps. First it rests in the groove of the bars, and then 
protrudes upon the fiat of the shoe, and bears on the ground at 
the time of rest. This elastic mass, compressed at the moment 
of contact, sli'ghtly dilates the shoe, which is articulated, or, what 
is better, very narrow at the toe, and square ; the heels also are 
thus slowly and gradually dilated. 

Goodwin also lias invented a very ingenious, but too compli- 
cated shoe, composed of three articulated pieces. From the 
centre of the median piece a prolongation of iron extends to the 
back of the frog, and is of sufficient thickness to be perforated, 
the hole having a thread through which a screw is introduced, 
running on each side. The branches of the shoe have three nail- 
holes, and from the innei- border of the lieel rises a clip so turned 
as to rest on tlie origin of tlie bar. The mechanism of the shoe 
is easy to understand, each branch being opened by the play of 
the screw wliich passes through the prolongation of the median 
piece, one extremity of wliich rests upon this prolongation, while 
the other presses upon the inner border of the movable branch. 

The Goodwin shoe has been essentially improved by Fouris 
(fig. 18). It is a bar shoe, the bar being tliicker than the rest of 




Fig. 18. 



89 

the shoe, and wider than the ordinary bar shoe. The bar is 
notched on each side, and through eacli notch runs a thread or 
vice which holds a movable clip, which is made to rest on the 
inside of the bars, which are first properly thinned out. By a 
motion of the clip through the thread, the heels are dilated 
slowly and by degrees. This shoe, however, is very expensive, 
difficult to make, and easily put out of order. 

In all these methods of dilatation the shoe has to be made of 
several pieces, and in this condition is found a constant cause of 
weakness and of rapid deterioration, for which reason they are 
not very practicable. It is not so with the system used by De- 
fays, Sr., by which the shoe, besides containing the essential ele- 
ments of the desired mechanical dilatation, is left entire to fulfil 
the functions of the'ordinary shoe, as well. That which character- 
izes Defays' method, who had used it in 1829, but which was 
made known only in later years, is that the shoe itself, which, by 
its ductility in action, becomes the agent of the dilatation of the 
hoof, becomes also, by its natural tenacity, the obstacle to the re- 
turn of the foot to its former contracted condition, when once it 
has yielded to the outward motion which it has acquired. Defays 
uses an ordinary shoe, thick and narrow, and then further nar- 
rowed at the toe, if it is to be used on a foot regularly contracted. 
When it is thus aif ected, at five or six centimetres of the heels ; if 
the contraction exists at the quarters, at the end of each branch. 
This shoe carries on the inside border a strong, resisting clip, 
made at right angles, to rest on the internal border of the wall of 
the heels. The shoe is flat, grooved like an English shoe, with 
nail holes slightly turned inwards ; the last nail hole made as far 
as possible from the heels. It is made of the best quality of iron, 
in order to resist, when cold, the greatest amount of forced spread- 
ing by the dilator : it is the expansive slipper oi Defays (pantoujle 
expa7isive). 

The foot upon which this slipper is to be fixed must have both 
heels pared evenly, the sole and the bars pared down to a spring, 
and the hoof round the frog, on each side, thinned down as much 
as can be borne. Then, the shoe, flattened and without curvature 
on its faces — resting, therefore, on a strictly horizontal plane — is 



90 

put on the foot in such a manner that the clip of the heels rests 
against the internal face of the quarters. This done, the space 
between the two heels is measured with a compass, and then the 
dilator is applied (fig. 19). This instrument represents a true 




Fig. 19. 
vice, with jaws reversed, moving from, instead of approaching 
each other. It is formed of two jaws which can be made to ap- 
proach or separate by a transverse screw put in motion by a mov- 
able lever. The degree of separation is regulated by a graduated 
rule placed horizontally, which serves also to maintain the jaws at 
the same point when separated. The two jaws being introduced 
between the heels of the shoe, the vice being held perpendicularly 
to the plantar face, the screw is slowly turned until the branches 
are opened, say, eight or nine millimetres ; then at the point or 
points of the shoe which have yielded to the pressure of the in- 
strument, one or more blows are struck with a hammer on the 
outside of the branch of the shoe, to loosen the instrument, until 



91 

it drops down, without disturbing the screw, a record being made 
of the degree of dilatation secured, upon the graduated register. 
After three or four days the same operation is repeated, the 
spreading being then not more than four or five millimetres. It 
must be less than at the first, because at the beginning the less 
perfect contact between the projection of the heels of the shoe 
and the wall has allowed a considerable amount of dilatation 
without producing much result. These repeated dilatations once 
in four days for a month, are assisted by the application of soft 
poultices in horses which, on account of the pain and consequent 
lameness, are kept in the stable. Others may be put to work, and 
receive poultices only when at rest, or may be turned into damp 
fields. The shoe rarely needs clianging during the treatment, 
which lasts about a month. This mode of opening the heels is 
especially practicable and of easy application, and has the advan- 
tage of allowing the use of the horse, whose foot is as well pro- 
tected as with the ordinary shoe. It becomes indispensable when 
the disease has been of long continuance and is accompanied with 
much lameness. It is liable to but one contra-indication, and that 
is when the foot is not sufficiently strong to hold it, by reason of 
the heels having been pared down excessively. It has been tested 
for a long time, not only by the Defays, Senior and Junior, but 
by many others. H. Bouley, in France, with Hartmann and 
Mayer in Germany, recommend it as an excellent curative treat- 
ment. 

We must again mention the simple and light desencasteleur of 
Jovard, (fig. 20) which is as powerful as that of Defays. It is 




Fig. 20. 
composed exclusively of a double vice, with opposite threads, 
opening or closing two strong claws, which are applied upon the 
internal borders of the branches of the shoe ; a rod of iron is in- 
troduced in the holes at the head of the vice and puts the instru- 
ment in motion. 



92 

It may be said, that on general principles, it is preferable to 
treat hoof-bound by the use of dilating shoes than to resort to the 
bloody operations recommended in earlier times. It is these that 
Brogniey recommended highly for the removal of one or two 
quarters of the wall, with an appropriate dressing. H. Eouley, 
however, believes that it would be wrong to discard these opera- 
tions entirely ; he believes that there are conditions where they 
become necessary, and where they furnish better and quicker re- 
sults than the others referred to. 

We cannot overlook the treatment recommended by Bar- 
thelemy, which consists in the thinning first with the rasp, then 
with the drawing knife, of the bars, in their whole length, depth 
and thickness ; thinning them down to a spring under the pressure 
of the finger. This done, a layer of blister is applied on the skin 
of the cuti dura and upon it, in the parts corresponding where 
the hoof has been thinned down ; the application to be renewed 
several times, until the lameness has subsided. This operation is 
followed by an excess of the horny secretion and a marked en- 
largement of the hoof, and gives good but slow results. Gross 
has often operated in the same manner, alternating the blister 
with poultices. 

A inodus operandi which has also been very satisfactory, is 
the one that was recently made known by Weber, and which con- 
sists in the division of the wall at several points, by grooves ex- 
tending down to the kcraphyllous horn, in the direction of the 
fibres of the hoof. Two or three are made, on each side, be- 
tween the quarters and the heels, the heels at the same time be- 
ing pared down, when a bar shoe is put on, which rests on the 
frog, or if that organ is atrophied, pressure upon it is simulated 
by the addition of pieces of leather. Frequently, instead of par- 
ing the heels down excessively, and wlien the frog is atrophied, 
we prefer a slipper after having pared the sole and bars to a 
spring. The method of Weber is not new. It was previously 
known by Lagueriniere, and is mentioned by Buginet and Her- 
bert d'Arboval. With it we may slowly but surely achieve suc- 
cess, and there are but few feet which are not relieved or cured ; 
but the grooves must be renewed from above at each shoeing. 



93 

Solleysel made lines of cauterization on each side of the heels, 
extending from the hair to the shoe, which, running through the 
hoof, softens it and renders it more tractable. 

We cannot at present consider the complications likely to be 
encountered, but must satisfy ourselves by remarking that in case 
of false quarters, to avoid the painful pinching of the soft parts 
between the two walls, there is nothing better than to clean the 
place of separation thoroughly with the drawing knife, and to fill 
the space with a putty of gutta percha. 

DISEASES OF THE FKOG, 

This part of the horse's foot is exposed to many pathological 
lesions. Some are merely accidental, and result from the intro- 
duction into its structure of nails, and other various foreign 
bodies, more or less shai-p, which the animal picks up in walking 
or performing his work. We have already considered these forms 
of lesion in the article upon Punctured Wonnds. The frog is 
often bruised, a lesion which may be followed by a complication 
which we may be allowed to consider under the name of furuncle 
of the frog. But ])esides this, some special diseases are also ob- 
served, amongst them one already known to us under the name of 
canker^ and another which is more commonly known under that 
of thrushes. 

(A) Thrushes. — This affection is often, but wrongly, considered 
as the beginning of canker, being characterized by the presence 
of a puriform secretion, blackened and very fcBtid, which collects 
and accumulates in the lacunae and excavations of the frog, 
whether in its middle or upon its sides. There is often an in- 
creased sensibility of the parts, which in some cases may give 
rise to very serious lameness, preventing the animal from stand- 
ing, and rendering the movement of walking very painful. The 
horn of the frog often becomes soft and thready, when the frog 
is called rotten, and the softness increases until it drops off by 
piecemeal. 

The causes of this affection arc, first, excessive work on stony 
roads ; changes from excessive dryness to moisture ; the strong 
muds of streets, and standing in damp and dirty places, especially 



94 

in urine and manure, as is often the case in badly kept stables. 
But there are horses whose feet are also affected with thrushes 
even when standing on a dry bedding ; those whose feet are con- 
tracted; and again, well-bred horses with good frogs, and in which 
there is a constitutional tendency to that condition of the horny 
structures. 

The treatment consists in avoiding all known causes likely to 
give rise to this morbid condition of the frog. Sometimes the 
foot must be pared, and all the parts where the purif orm secre- 
tion collects exposed and thoroughly cleansed. The lacunae of 
the frog are then to be dressed with Yillate's solution, ^gypt- 
iacum ointment, and sometimes only with simple drying powders, 
a mixture of subacetate of copper, burnt alum and tannin. When 
the pain is excessive, glycerine, with a little Goulard's extract or 
per-chloride of iron, is very benelicial. In some cases again, ex- 
cellent results are obtained by poulticing. It is certain that 
proper shoeing must, in many instances, be of great advantage. 

(B) Furuncle of the Frog. — Under this name is understood 
the partial necrosis of that portion of the plantar cushion which 
is situated above the frog proper, from a bruise of that part of 
the hoof. Loiset describes it under the name oi planta7' fihro-chon- 
driiis, connecting it with quittor, which he named lateral fibro- 
chondritis. 

(I) tSyinptoms. — There is nearly always, and especially at 
the outset, a severe lameness, the greater in degree as the morti- 
fication is more extended and more deeply situated. While stand- 
ing, the affected leg is carried forward, resting on the toe ; the 
heels are raised, and the fetlock is half flexed. In action, the rest 
is very slight, sometimes quite absent, and occurs on the toe only. 
As the disease progresses, and the necrosed spot develops 
itself, the animal rests his foot better, and the lameness 
diminishes. 

Upon examination of the foot early in the history of the case, 
a small opening may ordinarily be discovered, either on the body 
of the frog or in its branches, while at otlier times there is merely 
a discharge of a yellowish serous pus of a strong odor, and more 
abundant in quantity than would be expected from the size of the 



95 

wound, wliile surrounding it the hoof is loose and sometimes 
ready to drop off. If the disease is several days old a mass of 
dead tissues is ordinarily found partly loose, projecting through 
the opening of the frog, which has the aspect of a whitish body, 
slightly green, soft, loose and detached amongst the surrounding 
tissues. 

When this core (bourbillon) is not visible it may sometimes 
be felt with the finger introduced through the wound in the 
frog. 

If there is no lesion of the frog the purulent fluid accumu- 
lates under the hoof, raising and loosening it from the velvety 
tissues to a varying extent. Fluctuations may be sometimes 
even felt under the hoof. Sometimes the pus oozes through the 
lacunae of the frog, while again it may then appear at the heels, 
after making its way under the entire sole. 

(II) Pathological Anatomy. — As we said at the beginning, 
the characteristic lesion of the frog is the gangrene of a portion 
of the fibrous structure of the plantar cushion, when it changes 
its general appearance and becomes of livid yellow-greenish color, 
while at the same time a process of elimination takes place in the 
surrounding parts, and pus forms, separating the dead tissues from 
the healthy structure surrounding. This process of elimination 
is more active on the surface than in the deeper parts of the 
plantar cushion, to which very often this core remains attached. 
In some serious cases the disease becomes complicated with ne- 
crosis of the plantar aponeurosis, or of the os pedis, and 
sometimes of caries of the lateral cartilages, or cartilaginous 
quittor. 

(III.) Causes. — Furuncle of the frog always proceeds from 
some violent injury through the horny envelope of the tissues it 
covers, either when the hoof has been cut through and through by 
a sharp instrument, or as the result of some simple bruise with- 
out solution of continuity, contusion, or even crushing. Any for- 
eign body likely to produce a punctured wound of the foot may 
produce it. But in such cases as are accompanied by furuncle it 
is necessary that the wound should be more of a contused or 
bruised than of the punctured variety. Kough, angular stones 



96 

are the most common agents of injury, being often picked up be- 
tween the shoe and the frog, and then, pressing more or less upon 
the tissues underneath, they produce the same result when they 
are located in the laminge of tlie frog. 

A thick, voluminous frog in a foot with low heels is very much 
exposed to the class of injuries under discussion, equally with 
the frog whose horny covering has been pared too closely. 

(IV.) Treatment. — The first indication, says H. Bouley, when 
one has to treat a furuncle of the frog, is to thin down as much as 
possible the horn of the plantar region, and especially that of the 
frog, of the bars and the branches of the sole, in order to avoid 
the painful pressure it would produce if its thickness should in- 
terfere with the expansion of the parts. This done, if the frog 
is already punctm*ed, and there is an opening communicating with 
the cavity where the core (or hourhilloii) exists, a free incision or 
opening must be made through the hoof and the fibrous covering 
of the plantar cushion, and thus the escape of the pus facilitated. 
If the horny frog has remained intact, a longitudinal incision must 
also be made in order to allow the frog to discharge, and avoid 
further burrowing or undermining of the hoof. It is bad prac- 
tice to attempt to pull the core out with a sharp instrument. It is 
better to leave it undisturbed and wait for the natural process of 
elimination, which may, however, be hastened by the application 
of a poultice. The time required for the entire separation of the 
necrosed spot varies, and as it approaches, the animal begins to 
improve in the matter of resting his foot. When it becomes en- 
tirely detached, the cavity which it occupied in the plantar cushion 
is treated as a simple wound, with turpentine or tincture of aloes. 
However, a dressing supported by the shoe with plates is always 
advantageous, and must be frequently repeated. No great length 
of time is usually required for the entii-e healing of the parts, 
and the animal is soon returned to his work. 

In a few cases, nevertheless, the furuncle becomes compli- 
cated with necrosis of the plantar cushion, disease of the os pedis, 
or of the lateral cartilages, the treatment of which must vary ac- 
cording to the nature and severity of the lesions. In these in- 
stances operations similar to those required in cases of deep 



97 

punctured wounds of the foot or in cartilaginous quittor are 
indicated. 

KERAPHYLLOCELE. 

This name was given by Vatel to a tumor whicli forms on the in- 
terna] surface of the wall of the horse's foot, at the expense of the 
kerapliyllous tissue, which becomes hypertrophied. These tumors 
are sometimes irregularly rounded, at others elongated, but usually 
rounded and again flattened from side to side. They vary in size 
from that of a goose quill to that of the finger, and while in some 
cases they occupy the whole length of the wall from the coronary 
band to the plantar border, in others they only begin at one-third or 
one-half of the height of the wall. The difference in size allows 
a division of keraphyllocele into complete and incomplete. At 
different points the columns are roughened by frequent enlarge- 
ments. Sometimes full and formed by a very compact and hard 
tissue, they are, however, sometimes of a fistulous character and 
accompanied by a blackish discharge of an offensive odor. The 
lamellae of the reticular tissue wliich are nearest to tliem are gen- 
erally wider and thicker than in the normal state. As the tumor 
increases it compresses the lamellated tissue and the correspond- 
ing surface of tlie ospedis, injuring the soft parts, and resting in a 
groove they thus form for their development. 

The causes which give rise to their development are more 
especially cracks of the walls ; though they often follow laminitis 
or supervene upon severe operations on the wall. Yatel claims 
to liave observed tlieni after injuries to the hoof resulting from 
the hammering of the foot while being shod. 

The symptoms are very obscure. At first the animal is but 
slightly sore in traveling, but tlie lameness increases as the tumor 
enlarges in size. The region surrounding tlie tumor is always 
warmer and more sensitive than is natural. In many horses the 
coronet presents a swelling, well marked. In some cases the dis- 
eased quarter is depressed, and the toe seems elongated. When 
a toe or quarter crack is accompanied with severe lameness kera- 
phyllocele may generally be suspected. But when none of these 
external signs exist it is exceedingly difficult to make a positive 



9S 

diJignosls of their prosouce : for though the swelling of the eoro- 
net, the hent and the pain of the hoof tn;vy be present, those 
symptoms may belong also to other diseases of the foot. Then 
the only means at our disposjil is to pjire the foot well down, when, 
at the surface of tiie sole, the extremity of a portion of hoof or- 
dinarily harder than the normal consistency may be detected. 

The treatment consists in removing the portion of the hoof 
corresponding to the horny tumor, as in a case of cracks, and 
treating the wound thus made in the same manner, according to 
tlie iudici\tions presented. 

LAMINITIS. 

Synonym: Be/ieyVei'schlatj, llti fcnt^ iind u/iffj Qcrmim : Juutr- 
bure, J^oui'batnrey French ; I^lfondime/ito, Italian ; Ayuadiirii, 
Spanish. 

By this name is understood the bloody congestions of the 
keratogenons apparatus of ungiilated animals. The increase of 
the circulating tluid produces a swelling of the living tissues of 
the foot ; but tliese being enclosed in a box of so hard, resisting 
& material, a painful pressure results, which becomes specially 
common and serious in horses and other solipeds. It has jilso 
been observed in bovines, though it is then less frequent and 
serious. It has also been seen in sheep, in goats and in swine. 
It may, in fact, occur in all ungulated animals. Dogs, even, are 
not exempt from its attacks. 

The simple bloody congestion, more or less inflammatory, of 
the keratogenons appiu-atus of the horse, is sometimes called acute 
laminitiii and acute fouuder. The disease may pass off by resolu- 
tion, leaving no traces of its occurrence, but more commonly it 
becomes complicated with some lesion of more important and 
serious a character, as hemorrhage, suppuration, inflanmiatory 
exudations, and especially of a hypersecretion of the horny sub- 
stances, in which case it becomes chronic laminitis or founder ; 
an affection which gives rise to alterations of a peculiar nature, 
and leads to certain changes in the form and character of the 
hoof. We do not agree to the divisions admitted by several 
authors, into traumatic laminitis, r/ieumatismal laminitin, and 
metastatic taffiinitis. 



99 

I. Syrnjjtoma. — Laminitis, in most instances, is preceded by 
certain general symptonDS, such as are premonitory of tlie invasions 
of ordinary inflammatory diseases, but of an uncertain signifi- 
cance. Tbere is dullness, general insensibility, muscular tremb- 
lings, and stiffness of the loins. The respiration is accelerated, 
the pulse febrile, the mucous membranes injected, the mouth dry, 
the fcfical discharges dry and coated, the urine scanty ; and per- 
haps anorexia is present. Kodet, who held that laminitis is more 
a secondary than primitive affection, and that it is simply an in- 
flammatory anaisothermical fever which had localized itself, 
was obliged to acknowledge that this fever has nothing charac- 
teristic, and that it is always followed by laminitis. 

It is certain, however, that but a short time elapses — from sever- 
al hours to one or two days — after the originating cause has become 
active, before the bloody congestion of the reticular tissues and 
the peculiar phenomena belonging to the disease become manifest. 
It is only when the capillary circulation of the foot has consider- 
ably increased, and when the rigidity of the structure prevents 
the swelling of the podophyllous tissue, that laminitis truly 
exists. 

Laminitis in the horse has the following principal symptoms : 
Considerable heat of the entire foot, extreme sensibility with in- 
tense pain, increasing rapidly, and obliging the animal to rest up- 
on the sound legs, in order to relieve the affected ones; diflaculty 
and uncertainty in walking ; and sometimes a peculiar trembling 
of the muscles of the patellar face of the femur, and of those of 
the extensors of the fore arm, which fill the triangular space 
formed by the scapula and the humerus. The physiognomy al- 
ways indicates intense suffering. The pulse is hard, the respira- 
tion increased, and the skin hot, and in places moistened by a 
copious perspiration. These symptoms vary with the legs which 
are affected, whether the disease is located in the fore or hind 
feet exclusively, or in all four together. As Mr. Bouley says, it 
is a peculiarity of this affection that it may remain locali;2ed in 
the feet of one patient, either forward or behind, or may at once 
attack the four extremities, and that it seldom attacks the limbs 
on one side only, to the exclusion of the feet of the opposite side, 



100 

i. e., it may be laterally biped, affecting either both the fore or 
both the hind feet, but not often occurring otherwise. Some- 
times, however, the disease is more marked in one leg than in 
the other of one biped. It is generally only after some trau- 
matic lesion, or other local influence, that laminitis occurs in one 
foot only. 

When laminitis affects the two anterior feet, the animal car- 
cies its extremities forward, and the hind feet are brought well 
under the centre of gravity. The standing of the animal is alter- 
ed, the walking difficult and painful, and the resting of the feet 
on the ground is done with hesitation and fear. The feet are 
carried forward, because the pressure takes place on the frog and 
on the heels; if it should occur as in the healthy and normal con- 
dition, upon the entire inferior circumference of the foot, there 
would be pressure upon all the living tissues, which are gorged 
with blood, tumefied and painful, and this pressure would greatly 
increase the sufferings of the patient. It is, then, to relieve him- 
self, and to avoid the intensity of the pain, that the animal instinct- 
ively changes its mode of resting on the ground. In placing the 
heels down, the weight is borne only upon a follicular, fatty tis- 
sue ; from there it spreads along the side of the coronet to the 
fetlock, and thus upon all the other portions of the leg, and in 
this way the foot becomes greatly relieved during the action of 
resting. If, however, the fore legs only were carried forward, 
the effect would be equivalent to lengthening the body of the 
animal, and he would be unable to carry on the action of walking. 
To allow the fore feet to be moved, it is necessary that the body 
be carried forward by the hind legs and brought closer under the 
center of gravity, a position which contributes also to the relief 
of the animal while at rest. 

The more painful and diseased the feet become, the more the 
animal fears the impingement of the ground. Thus, so to speak, 
he sounds the ground before putting the foot down, and for this 
reason the walking becomes slow, stiff and difficult, and the noise 
of the contact of the foot louder than that of the healthy legs. 
Sometimes the animal proceeds only by a series of jumps, or a 
kind of rearing, while backing is especially difficult. 



101 

The hoofs of the foundered feet give to the hand, when feel- 
ing them, a sensation of heat greater than that in the physiologi- 
cal condition ; a sensation which can be more readily detected by 
a comparison of the fore and hind feet simultaneously examined. 
The pains in the diseased feet are rendered more manifest, also, by 
percussion upon the hoof with the hammer, when each blow, how- 
ever light, is followed by a motion of the animal in suddenly 
withdrawing his foot on account of the pain experienced. The 
lateral arteries of the fetlock, in the foundered legs, beat stronger 
than in health, and can be readily felt by the fingers. The feet 
cannot be raised without great effort, and when raised, the animal 
stands only with great difficulty, and makes struggling attempts 
to relieve himself and resume its natural mode of standing on 
four legs. 

When laminitis affects only the fore feet, the animal will 
sometimes remain standin<j,' for a length of time together ; he 
may retain this attitude for several days, without any displace- 
ment of his body ; still he is observed moving sur^place, from 
side to side, especially on his fore legs, relieving one foot for a 
moment to give the same comfort immediately afterwards to the 
other. But when, exhausted by fatigue and pain, the foundered 
horse lies down, it is very difficult to get him on his feet again. 
He continues in the decubital position, lying mostly flat upon his 
side, the fore legs in constant motion, and soon complicates his 
diseased condition by the addition of bed sores upon the prom- 
inent parts of his body. 

The attitude of the animal is very different when the hind 
feet are affected ; then both the anterior and posterior bipeds 
are brought close to each other, the feet of the hind legs being 
carried forward under the abdomen, so that the rest may take 
place upon the heels ; and the anterior ones are carried back- 
wards, and nearer to the center of gravity, to assist the function 
of the hinder extremities in sustaining the weight of the body. 
In this case, the animal is constantly in side motion, on account 
of the pain he endures. Walking is still more difficult, and 
seems to take place as if the animal was treading on sharp needles, 
as, the more the anterior biped is engaged under the body, the 



102 

more also those legs arc loaded with the animal's weight, and the 
more difficult is their movement. But the anterior legs, contrary 
to their ordinary function (not being adapted to the support of 
an overshare of the body) sustaining now a great part of its 
mass, and moreover, compelled to assist in the act of propulsion, 
necessarily and inevitably become easily fatigued, and too often 
in their turn become likewise affected. Animals suffering with 
posterior laminitis are found occupying the standing position less 
frequently than those whose fore feet are affected. Their un- 
steady equilibrium, consequent on their mode of standing, tires 
tiiem more quickly, and compels them to lie down, and once on 
the ground, it is again more difficult to make them rise. They 
may do so readily with the fore legs, but the posterior extremi- 
ties do not jilways respond to the call. 

The attitude of animals suffering with laminitis of all the 
four feet, is the same as of those which are affected in the fore 
feet only. All four feet are carried in advance of their plumb 
line, the anterior forward, the posterior well under the center of 
gravity. Sometimes the horse has all his feet somewhat apart, in 
order to carry the principal part of the weight on the inner side 
of the foot. The standing posture being painful to either foot, the 
animal lies down most of the time. Locomotion is very difficult 
and staggering, and the animal can only be induced to move by 
severe punishment, and even that cruel resort sometimes fails to 
effect it. If the animal is made to walk, he does it with the 
greatest difficulty, by reason of the increase of his sufferings, 
brought on by the displacement. His legs, stiff and trembling, 
are raised in a convulsive manner, and brought back to the 
ground only with the greatest hesitation, and upon the heels ; 
the constant motion of the lips of the animal being well charac- 
teristic of his sufferings. 

In the ox, laminitis is more frequent in the hind than in 
the fore feet. It is, however, more serious in the latter, the in- 
ner being more affected than the outer toe. The foundered ox 
walks with hesitation, and takes advantage of every opportunity 
to lie down. When standing, his back is arched, the feet closed 
together, the hind feet resting on the heels, the fore legs on the 



103 

points of the toes. The fever is severe, sometimes attended with 
loss of appetite and of rumination. If the disease continues long, 
the cattle will die. The abdomen is stuck up and the animal 
loses flesh very rapidly, indicating a serious condition, as the dis- 
ease is principally found in fat animals, which are obliged to 
make forced marches to be delivered at their markets. 

II. Termination and Complications. — Well treated, laminitis 
is generally of short duration, and ends in three or four days by 
resolution. Sometimes, however, this is not accomplished until a 
later period, even towards the tenth day, though cases of this 
character are rare; and even when resolution proceeds slowly, 
some lesions in the foot may be looked for, and chronic laminitis 
will probably result. Resolution in acute founder is marked by 
tlie gradual disappearance of the local and general symptoms. 
In some subjects, the improvement is quite rapid from day to day, 
and the form of termination is known as delitescency. Laminitis 
ending in resolution is not usually followed by alterations in the 
horny box or the tissues which it covers. 

When the congestion which constitutes the disease terminates 
otherwise than by resolution, it is always followed by accidents 
of varying character. Some of these may have a happy termi- 
nation, but in the end are more or less likely to be followed by 
a deformity of the horny box, to which the name of chronic lam" 
initis is given. Before entering upon this, however, let us 
examine the various complications which may follow acute 
founder, and study in succession ; the hemorrhage^ inflammation 
with exudation, suppuration^ gangrene, consecutive arthritis, metasr 
iasis, and lastly chronic lamitiitis. Resolution is most commonly 
met with in the ox. Sometimes the separation of the hoof by 
suppuration occurs, and chronic founder is not observed in that 
animal. It is seldom that seedy toe is observed. 

a. — Hemorrhage, or apoplexy of the reticular tissue, is due to 
the rupture of the excessively distended capillaries, when the 
extravasated blood either infiltrates into the meshes of congested 
tissue, or spreads around it, and penetrates between the podophyl- 
lous and keraphyllous lamellae, filling up the spaces at the toe, the 



104 

raarnmse and the anterior parts of the quarters, the os pedis being 
pushed back by the pressure of the incompressible fluid. The 
pain is then very great ; the blood continuing to separate the 
tissues, often oozes at the coronary band. 

If this last sign is absent, a groove may be made with a draw- 
ing-knife in the region of the toe, behind the commissure of the 
sole and of the wall. If we meet with a cavity, resulting from 
the extravasation of the blood in the podophyllous and kera- 
phyllous space, or if blood flows out from it, the true nature of 
the complication becomes at once apparent. This mode of ex- 
ploration is generally difiicult, as the animal in pain does not 
readily allow his feet to be raised, and, as the other foot cannot 
sustain the entire weight of the body, the horse easily falls down. 
It is sometimes necessary to throw the animal, in order to make 
this exploration, which very often becomes necessary if we would 
know ac6urately the progress of the disease. 

h. — Infiammation^ with fibrinous exudation, or pseudo-mem- 
branous formation on the surface of the podophyllous tissue. 
The transudated flbrine mixes with the hoof, secreted by the 
podophyllous tissue, and this matter separates that structure from 
the keraphyllous laminae, especially at the anterior part of the 
region. Again, in chronic laminitis we find this abnormal secre- 
tion pushing the os pedis forcibly backwards and separating the 
toe of the bone from that of the hoof, and thus producing a 
pain still greater and more violent than that produced by the 
laminitis and the hemorrhage. These pains are often so intense 
that they give rise to an access of furious vertigo. But pains, 
even when of an exaggerated degree, indicate simply the pres- 
ence cf the exudative form of laminitis. It is not a positive 
sign ; the foot must be explored at the toe, where, in the vacuum 
which exists between the horny lamellae is found, more or less 
abundantly, a citrine serosity of a slightly reddish color. Some- 
times this serosity oozes between the hair and the hoof, in conse- 
quence of the separation of the tissues at the coronary band, and 
appears in the form of a thin, reddish foam, about the band 
jtself. 



105 

d. — Suppuration between the wall and the podophyllous tis- 
sue is a complication more rare than the others, but which, how- 
ever, has been observed, especially when laminitis is traumatic. 
We have seen it appear under the sole and separate it entirely 
from the tissues underneath. In these cases, the pain is always 
very great, and the living structures are pressed beyond measure. 
Standing is impossible, and the animal continues lying down, or, 
under the influence of the pains, constantly moving from one leg 
to another, balancing himself, so to speak. There is no relief for 
him until the suppuration has shown itself between hair and hoof, 
when it oozes outward at the coronet. Relief, however, may also 
be obtained by making an opening at the toe with the drawing- 
knife. This complication often results in the entire separation 
and dropping off of the hoof. Cases have been observed when 
this accident has taken place as early as the third day (Lafosse, 
Stanley.) Gillmeyer has seen a new foot grow out entirely, but 
this requires a long time. 

d. — Gangrene of the sub-horny tissues sometimes takes place, 
though seldom, under the influence of the excessive pressure, es- 
pecially when there is sub-horny exudation. The violent pains 
then cease suddenly; the resting becomes more solid; the move- 
ments take place without difficulty. But at the same time, the 
physiognomy of the patient becomes anxious and contracted ; the 
pulse becomes small and difficult to count ; the temperature of 
the body diminishes ; the animal has a trembling gait ; is indiffer- 
ent to any excitement ; he is prostrated, and soon he ends by sep- 
ticemia. The hoof then often drops off, and the sub-horny tis- 
sues are seen to be of a bluish-brown color, without consistency, 
but with a very foetid odor. 

Volpi thought that laminitis was the inflammation of the 
articulation of the foot; but this arthritis, ii it exists (a fact 
which is rare), is not a consecutive phenomenon, but a complica- 
tion. The inflammation does not remain limited to the reticular 
tissue ; it extends also, and consecutively, to the contiguous 
structure, spreads to the tendons and articular ligaments, even 
penetrates to the synovial capsules of the articulation of the third 
with the second phalanges, and may also react upon other parts 



106 

of the organism. The anchylosis of the articulation of the foot 
with that of the coronary joint are complications somewhat fre- 
quent, as well as that of the ossification of the cartilages of the 
foot. 

f. — Metastases have been often observed, and when ac- 
companied by intense fever have been noticed as complicated 
with serious diseases of the chest, especially of pleuro-pneumonia. 
At other times it has been the intestines to which the metas- 
tasis has transferred the disease, in which case there is, in most 
instances, constipation of the bowels. Enteritis, however, is 
seldom observed, notwithstanding what has been said on the sub- 
ject. This metastasis has also been seen toward the lumbar 
region, and this is much more commonly believed from the fact 
that there is more motion at the hip than at any other joint 
during locomotion, and also because the back and the loins are 
more or less arched. In fact, laminitis has been by some desig- 
nated as an affection of the loins ; some have looked upon it as a 
rheumatism of that region. All these errors have originated in 
the peculiar motion of the animal while walking, or of its 
peculiar mode of resting when standing still. We have also 
observed an attack of complete myelitis as a complication of 
laminitis. 

g. — The most common complication met with in chronic 
laminitis is an affection which we might have treated as a special 
subject had we not, upon principle, considered it as a sub-inflam- 
matory state of acute founder of the foot. An attack of laminitis 
which has not ended by resolution in five, ten, or fifteen days at 
most, takes a character of persistency which, in most cases, ends 
in absolute incurability. To properly study chronic laminitis we 
must observe it when the alterations which characterize it are 
accomplished. When we have completed the consideration of 
the pathological changes we will examine the intermediate period, 
and discuss the mechanism by which these alterations take place 
in relation to the pathological anatomy. 

The first thing observed is the change of form in the hoof. 
The nail of a horse's foot easily recalls the form of a Chinese 
shoe. (Knollhuf of Germany.) The hoof seems to have lost its 



107 

varnish and its suppleness in the points corresponding to the dis- 
eased parts. It is, besides, brittle, and seems to have lost part of 
its connection with the remaining parts of the foot, and there is 
a change in the direction of the wall, the fibres of which, instead 
of being oblique to the ground, assume an almost horizontal 
direction. The foot seems as if flattened from above downwards, 
and the lines which bound its surface form a well-marked obtuse 
angle with that of the coronary region. The anterior wall of the 
foot also forms a well-marked projection forward, from which re- 
sults a great exaggeration of the antero-posterior diameter of the 
nail with the transverse diameter and the oval form of the horny 
box. The external surface of the wall, instead of being smooth, as 
in physiological conditions, presents, on the contrary, a roughened 
appearance, which results from the presence of circles of ridges 
and circular grooves, placed one above the other and extending 
from one heel to the other. A remarkable peculiarity is here ob- 
served in the fact that in the anterior part of the nail the circles 
are quite near each other, while, on the contrary, upon the lateral 
parts they are separated by much wider grooves. When, then, 
at the toe, the wall has some difficulty in growing downwards, on 
account, probably, of the internal adhesions between the podo- 
phyllous and keraphyllous tissues ; the heels, on the contrary, grow 
without difficulty, and thus obtain a relative height superior, and 
sometimes even equal, to that of the toe. Often at the mammae 
and quarters of the foot contractions are seen, and longitudinal 
grooves running from the coronary band to the plantar surface, 
reminding one of the lesions met with in encastelure. 

Considered on the side of the inferior face the old foundered 
hoof offers four remarkable lesions. Besides its oval form, a dis- 
position altogether different from that of the normal state, the 
sole is convex in all the anterior part of the plantar region, espe- 
cially at the point of the frog. There exists at that point a trans- 
versal tumor or enlargement, projecting sufficiently to exceed in 
height the inferior border of the wall. The solar sheet has been 
pushed outward by the pressure against the superior face from 
the contents of the horny box, and the foot is convex. This con- 
vexity never equals the entire extent of the foot, the deformity 



108 

ending at the boundary of the inferior border of the bars, beyond 
which and backwards are found the cavities of the lateral lacunae 
of the frog, so much more elevated as the heels are also higher. 
The centre of this tumor or enlargement of the sole is often flexi- 
ble under the pressure of the finger, and generally bleeds easily 
on the application of the sharp tools of the blacksmith. It is not 
rare to see the sole perforated through and through and showing 
the inferior border of the os pedis projecting through the border 
of the bone, which then soon becomes necrosed. This is the 
result of the excessive displacement of the os pedis and of the 
strong pressure upon the velvety tissue against the sole-tissue, 
which is atrophied or even destroyed. This is an ulcerating 
wound, somewhat semi-lunar, secreting a very offensive pus, with 
granulation and some proud flesh, or even separation of the sole. 

Between the sole and the wall the line of demarcation is no 
longer so well defined as in the normal state. At the toe, the 
mammae and the anterior p&rt of the quarter, there is an excava- 
tion formed of softer horn of bad nature and less identified with 
the true horn of the wall and of the sole. A complete vacuity 
is often found, a cavity around the internal face of the wall at 
the toe and at the mammae of varying depth and size, but always 
larger at the inferior than at the superior end of the foot, where 
it gradually diminishes, and often contains a dry, granular 
mass, resulting from the drying of the blood, and the dried plastic 
lympli, mixed with small, horny, pulverized masses. This cavity 
is formed in front by the healthy wall and posteriorly by a new 
wall due to the secreted hoof thrown upon the podophyllous 
tissue ; tins is called seedy toe. This double wall is observed es- 
pecially after laminitis of the hind feet ; it is more common in 
the donkey and the mule ; it is also noticed in horses with small 
feet, as in those of Oriental breeds. 

The deformities of the horny box due to chronic laminitis 
are not in all cases identical in their character; there are 
degrees in them, and consequently they vary in their features, 
which variations are due to the duration of the disease and its 
intensity, and also, according to H. Bouly, to the primitive form 
of the diseased foot. In a case of chronic founder of the fore- 



109 

feet one may often notice a difference between the deformity of 
the left and that of the right foot. The deformities may take 
place at various times, and one may find a well-marked case of 
seedy toe while as yet the wall has preserved its normal oblique 
direction and shown only rudimentary ramy appearances. Again, 
the wall may have undergone changes in its direction only at the 
new hoof, which grows from the coronary band ; there is then 
formed between the old wall and the coronet a circular groove, 
sometimes called the digital cavity^ the deformities of the wall 
taking place only as it grows down. At times, also, instead of 
the groove, there is a ridge of horn at the coronary band, origin- 
ating in the hyper-secretion of the horn, wliicli grows also down- 
ward. And, again, there are cases where there is seedy toe and 
still no well-marked alteration of the shape of the wall of the 
sole. 

Chronic laminitis is always accompanied with more or less 
lameness. There are cases, however, where it is missing ; for 
example, in seedy toe. Ordinarily the foot is raised from the 
ground with a convulsive motion, as may be well observed in 
donkeys and mules, which animals rest their feet on the heels. 
This soreness diminishes with time, as the foot, assuming its new 
form, offers a wider space to the sub-iingulated tissues and presses 
less upon them, these tissues having at tlie same time become 
somewhat atrophied. In cases of hernia of the os pedis the rest- 
ing of the foot on the ground is almost impossible, the animal 
being afraid to bear his weight on the sole. The heat and the 
pain of the feet are less marked. The percussion is louder in 
case of seedy toe, while it is duller when the space between the 
wall and the reticular structure is filled with hoof of new forma- 
tion. This percussion is very painful in case of keraphylocele. 
Unless there are serious lesions, chronic laminitis is not accom- 
panied with fever. 

III. Pathological Anatomy. At the initial period of lamini- 
tis, when there is only simple congestion of the keratogenous 
apparatus, and especially of the podophyllous tissue, the sub- 
horny tissues are in a condition of sanguineous derangement, 
characterized by objective signs. When the hoof covering them 



110 

during life is removed, they are found of a dark red color, in a 
kind of eythema. When pressed between the fingers, their 
thickness is noted to be increased, and they are found to be 
gorged with blood, an incision made through them allowing the 
escape of a large quantity of that fluid. 

If the laminitis exists for several days, the podophylloiis 
tissue is found to be infiltrated with plastic exudations, and if 
there has been hemorrhage or apoplexy, blood is found between 
both the sensitive and insensitive laminae. In other cases there 
is pus, and in case of gangrene, the tissues are found of a livid 
color. 

The alterations are still more serious in cases of chronic 
founder. When a foot, foundered for some time, is divided by 
the saw in its antero-posterior axis by a section of all the parts, 
the thing first noticed is a change in the connection of the 
OS pedis with the wall. These changes, however, exist principally 
at the toe, and extend as far as the half of the quarters, on a level 
with the lateral cartilages of the foot, while further backwards 
they are not to be observed. On the side some laminae are always 
found in their normal condition, as can be seen by a section of the 
foot made transversely. Generally, a yellowish substance, of 
horny appearance, but softer, fills up the space situated between 
the walls and the keratogenous structure. This is the product 
of the exudation of the infiamed podophyllous lamintae, mixed 
with the horny substance which they secrete normally. These 
laminae are themselves hypertrophied,being sometimes one and two 
centimeters in length and exceeding by four or five times their 
normal size. The keraphyllous laminte are also hypertropliied, a 
condition which is evidently due, as respects the podophyllous 
tissue, to the increase of vital activity, resulting from the Inflam- 
matory condition of the tissue and to the infiltration by fibro- 
plastic exudation, resulting from the inflammation. As to the 
keraphyllous laminae, they repeat on the internal face of the wall, 
in an inverse manner, the disposition of the secreting laminae of 
the hoof between which they are formed and lodged. These, 
however, as they increase in extent, unite at their base in the 
whole of that portion which does not co-operate to their union 



Ill 

with the podopliyllous bands, and then forms a compact mass 
uniting most frequently with the internal face of the wall. Some, 
times this mass of yellowish hoof occupies the whole space be- 
tween the OS pedis and the wall, but in some cases it adheres only 
to the wall, when it forms around the keratogenous tissue, a new 
wall, also provided with keraphyllous laminae, and there is 
formed between it and the normal wall that porous, brittle mass, 
without homogeneity, which fills up the space, which constitutes 
the seedy toe. The mass thrown between the wall and the os pe- 
dis presses upon it; the anterior face of the bone assumes a ver- 
tical direction, and the os pedis presses towards the solar arch on 
its anterior border at a point situated posterior to that where, in 
normal feet, this border rests. Notwithstanding its resisting power> 
the wall gives to tlie effort of the mass interposed in front, the 
form of the foot changes, and then results the change to the 
oval in the contour of the foot. Under the influence of the dis- 
placement of the phalanx, not only the flattening and afterwards 
the convexity of the sole and even its perforation results, but the 
plantar cushion is itself pressed down and crushed between the 
bone and the frog, which is then generally atrophied. A hoof of 
new formation is often developed between the sole and the infer- 
ior face of the phalanx, in order to prevent it from necessarily 
sinking. This increases the pressure upon the bone and contrib- 
utes to its atrophy and sometimes to its complete disintegration. 

But, between the surface of the coronary band and the origin 
of the hoof, whose formation is anterior to the laminitis, there may 
also be a new layer of hoof, more resisting than that which occu- 
pies the space between the wall and the podophyllous tissue, 
which is no more hoof mixed with the fibrinous exudation, but a 
pseudo-hoof secreted by the coronary band. The fibres of this 
hoof, however, instead of being rectilinear and growing down in 
the direction of the old wall, with the fibres of which they are 
continuous, are, on the contrary, sinuous and nodulated, and dis- 
posed to take a somewhat horizontal direction. There is often, 
besides the old wall, a deep horny tumor, a keraphyllocele 
which grows inside, attempts to replace the soft horn secreted by 
the podophyllous tissue, and adds to the pressure of the os pedis, 



112 

by forming a new wedge, more solid and resisting, which pro- 
duces a displacement of the phalanx, whose anterior face then 
often becomes more than vertical. This horny secretion from 
the coronary band is made evident by a- section of a foundered 
foot, when the cutigeral cavity will be found much enlarged. 
Guyon, jr., Hertwig, and Gourdon remark that the displacement 
of the OS pedis is counterbalanced by the more rapid development 
of the heels and the projection of the foot forward; and that thus 
the phalanx does not support the weight of the body except by 
its inferior border only, but preserving, nevertheless, its primitive 
position. It is especially observed that when the foot is com- 
pletely deformed, the projection of the wall does not prevent the 
OS pedis from remaining in its normal position. 

The growth of hoof from the podophyllous tissue and the 
coronary band is not easily stopped. The horay masses which 
are formed continue to increase, and even soon end in uniting. 
There then remains a thick mass of deformed shape, four or live 
times thicker than the normal wall, but where the keraphyllous 
leaves are still noticed, corresponding to the podophyllous laminse, 
largely developed, and above all, running deeply into the 
wall of the hoof. The space between the wall and the anterior 
face of the os pedis is filled with pus besides the secreted hoof ; 
the seedy toe, if it existed, disappears. Though the hoof becomes 
thus much more voluminous than before, the deep parts are not 
any more in their normal condition, but are lodged in a smaller 
and smaller space, and are thus in such a state of compression 
that they become atrophied. The bone is altered in its texture, 
as well as in its form, and becomes denser and more brittle. One 
might suppose that as the disease progresses, the os pedis would 
become pressed backwards more and more towards the sole, in 
consequence of its giving way under the pressure. This, how- 
ever, is not so. As the old normal walls disappear, the new horn 
yields to the pressure from forward, the heels rise, the os pedis 
resumes its horizontal direction, and the danger of hernia of the 
bone diminishes, and a hypersecretion of the hoof is even noticed 
towards the point where the hernia would have taken place, in 
the middle of the pumiced sole. 



113 

We have, so far, supposed that chronic laminitis is always 
manifested by the presence, between the internal face of the wall 
and the podophyllous surface, of a mass of abnormal hoof. But 
there are cases, after hemorrhage, and especially after serous 
exudation, where, instead of it, a cavity is found — a seedy toe. 
There is also an entire separation between the os pedis and 
the wall. But the horny production, that of the podopliyl- 
lous tissue especially, is not sufficient in amount to fill up the 
whole space, there being hoof only upon the podophyllous tissue. 
There is then a sound wall formed, separated frorii the old one 
by a vacuum, which is often filled by a dry mass derived from 
the blood and serosity, mixed with the horny cells. But more 
frequently the separation is limited to the height of the podophyl- 
lous tissue, and the wall yet remains adherent to the coronary 
band, by its cutigeral cavity. The band then continues to pro- 
duce the external wall of the hoof, while the podophyllous pro- 
duces the abnormal wall, and the seedy toe remains between the 
two walls. 

There are cases where the separation, produced by the con- 
gestion of laminitis, takes place to such an extent, in circumfer- 
ence or in height, that the hoof loses all its adhesion, except 
towards the heels ; and then one may see the curious fact of the 
new generation of an entire new nail within the old one, the 
former being, so to speak, sequestered in the latter. 

IV. — D'lferential diagnosis. — It is possible that, notwithstand, 
ing its distinctly characterized physiognomy, laminitis, of the hind 
feet especially, may be mistaken for a disease of the spinal re- 
gion. Often, when the founder is light, the hinder parts wag, as 
in sprains of the loins, but the resting of the feet on the heels, 
their heat and their sensibility, will soon point out the distinction. 
In more severe cases, the hinder founder may simulate paralysis, 
especially if the animals cannot or will not raise themselves. 
Here, the history of the case is very useful, and the explorations 
of the feet will assist in making the diagnosis. We have seen 
cases of laminitis behind, where the raising of the foot has been 
such that it might be taken for springhalt, or even for locomotor 
ataxy. It may be also taken for tetanus when in mild form, or 
yet incompletely characterized. 



114 

V. Prognosis. — Laminitis is so much more alarming and 
rebellious as to treatment, as it is more extensive, more serious, 
and of longer existence. The most serious cases are those which 
are due to a constitutional predisposition, and those which follow 
a general alteration, or are complicated with other diseases. 

Chronic laminitis is especially serious from the production 
without separation, and in an excessive measure, of the horny 
substance. Seedy toe is then less serious, and that which does 
not extend to the coronary band is sometimes curable by the 
gradual growth of the hoof; the tumor of the os pedis is the most 
rebellious to treatment. The destruction of patients is often 
necessary, from their inability to walk or to do any work, and 
that notwithstanding all treatment they are entirely useless. 

YI. — Etiology. — Laminitis has been attributed to many and 
the most varied causes, and, among others, has now been ascribed 
to a traumatic origin, consisting of injuries of the foot; and 
again, to internal lesions, resulting in the inflammatory process 
which is characteristic of the affection. 

The external traumatic injuries, which it is claimed are those 
chiefly instrumental, are on the contrary, of very rare occurrence 
as causes of the disease. Our observations agree with those of 
H. Bouley, and if there is a traumatic causation for this disease, 
or, at least, one identical with it in respect to symptoms and 
primitive lesions, it is nevertheless, certain that its progress is 
very different ; there is found with it an evident tendency to 
suppuration instead of exudation, and there is no such formation 
as the chronic process which is found when laminitis is due to an 
internal phlegmasia. 

It has been said in reference to the action of the heated shoe 
upon the hoof, the percussion of the blacksmith's hammer and 
the pressure of the shoe and of the nails upon the living tissues, 
that all these causes together must, as their sure effect, make the 
foot tender, and stimulate in its constituting structure, the conges- 
tion which is the initial phenomenon of founder itself. But this 
assumption may be successfully contested. Bad shoeing may pro- 
duce many forms of lameness ; never laminitis. It has been said 
that feet of defective conformation are more commonly affected 



115 

with founder that those which are well formed. This, however, 
is not so, and feet with contracted heels are no more predisposed 
to it than fiat feet, as claimed by Girard. Traumatic accidents, as 
blows, injuries and pressure, produced by stones, crushing of the 
feet under heavy weights or under the wheels of a truck, etc., 
may produce a violent congestion of the reticular tissue of the 
foot, and consequently laminitis. But this founder itself is of 
too active a character and more complex perhaps, with a natural 
tendency to suppuration, as we have already said. It must then 
be considered as varying from laminitis proper, or that form in 
which the congestion is of a more passive character, or at least 
internal and somewhat analagous to that which is sometimes ob- 
served in the lungs or in the intestines. It might be better 
described as an " astonishment " {etonnement) of the foot, as it is 
sometimes called. 

Laminitis proper is rarely due to a unique cause, but more 
properly to a number of circumstances or to an assemblage of 
various causes by which the horse is at first somewhat indisposed 
— sick in fact ; and it is only after various general symptoms that 
the diseffee localizes itself in the feet, or, as the old phraseology 
has it, falls in the feet. 

The most effective cause is too abundant, and especially too 
substantial feeding, which produces plethora by rich blood. It 
is the use of other grains than oats, as wheat, barley or rye, 
which especially predisposes to the disease. Latin authors called 
it hordeatio (from hordeum^ barley), and it is mentioned by Solly- 
sel, Garsault, Gaspard de Saunier, and various hippiatrics. Rodet 
has observed its bad effects in Egypt and in Spain, where animals 
were fed not only with those grains, but when they received 
wheat in spike. Miltenberger had observed the same effects dur- 
ing the war of 1812, in Poland, where the horses were fed with 
rye. In our days even laminitis is seen breaking out in the years 
when feed is scarce and when oats have to be replaced by other 
grains, as is proved by the observations of Bouley, Yerrier, Hey, 
etc. Artificial varieties of fodder also predispose to founder, 
though less often ; even oats, when given in excess, may produce 
it (Solleysel, Blind), and especially if new oats (Hertwig). 



116 . 

The inflaence of seasons cannot be denied, and it is during the 
summer months that lamiuitis is more frequent, while it is rare in 
winter, as well as in spring and fall. It is to the warm climates 
of Spain and Egypt that Rodet attributed in great part the fre- 
quency of the founder observed in the army horses engaged in 
campaigning in those countries, [t has been also attributed to the 
sudden checking of the perspiration, and cutaneous chills when 
the animals are sweating ; a cold bath or the drinking of cold 
water at that moment having also often been considered as 
occasional causes. 

The work of the horse greatly influences the development of 
laminitis. It is more frequent in those which are driven at great 
speed than in those which work while walking, and especially 
in whose frame an excess of strength is required, and particularly 
those which labor on rough and stony ground. It is almost inevit- 
able if the animal is well fed and if he is unaccustomed to that 
kind of work and not trained for it, and most especially if it is dur- 
ing w^rm weather. This explains why the disease was so fre- 
quent amongst post, diligence and coach horses, especially during 
the period preceding the establishment of railroads, wheif the ex- 
penditure of strength exacted from these unfortunate animals 
reached the last limits of possibility. More recently, again, dur- 
ing the war of 1870-71, when railroad traveling was more or less 
impeded, laminitis became more common amongst horses from 
which an excess of muscular effort was required. It is a- frequent 
and very serious accident among English race horses (Hering). 

Laminitis in oxen is due almost exclusively to the fatigue of 
long journeys and to the repeated frictions of the unshod feet 
upon the ground. It was very common before the era of rail- 
roads in animals brought to markets. 

But prolonged rest and inaction also predispose to founder. 
The disease is frequent in horses making sea voyages. It is not 
rare to see horses become foundered when they are obliged to 
stand up during several days in consequence of injuries to the 
extremities, or other pathological conditions requiring them to be 
kept in slings. In diseases of the feet which have required pain- 
ful operations (toe or quarter cracks, punctured wounds of the 



117 

feet, quittor, etc.) it is quite common to see an animal persevere 
in maintaining the standing position, and too often has the leg 
corresponding to the one first attacked become also affected, leav- 
ing both of the anterior or both of the posterior ultimately affect- 
ed in a serious manner. 

It is common for laminitis to follow intestinal congestions, 
especially if these result from the administration of a drastic 
purge, as aloes for example, and this is a very serious form of 
the disease. Tisserand has seen laminitis of the anterior extremi- 
ties following parturition in mares, and particularly after abor- 
tion. Gloag and Smitli have observed similar facts. Hertwig 
says that it sometimes follows rheumatismal affections, especially 
the acute form. 

A metastatic laminitis has been seen following diseases of the 
chest. H. Bouley does not believe in these cases, and thinks the 
laminitis is the effect of the quadrupedal standing position, or 
also the feeding with farinaceous substances in too great quantity. 
At times founder accompanies malignant fevers, such as anthrax 
and typhoid attacks, which are always accompanied with a certain 
alteration of the blood. 

VIT. — Treatment. — In acute laminitis all attempts must tend 
to remove the congestion of the keratogenous apparatus, or at least 
to abate its intensity, so as to prevent or diminish the serious 
sequelffi that may too often follow. To effect this, general or local 
bleedings have been specially recommended, with antiphlogistic 
applications upon the congested regions. General bleeding at the 
jugular is especially indicated ; a large bleeding of from five to 
ten litres, repeated if the pulse or the condition of the disease in- 
dicates it. Local bleeding, often recommended, seems to us, gen- 
erally speaking, to houseless; that of the toe is of diflicult per- 
formance in founder, as the feet are usually raised from the 
ground with difiiculty, and the operation is quite painful, and may 
give rise to more or less serious complications. However, in seri- 
ous cases it can be done while the animal is thrown down, not so 
much on account of the blood depletion as to prevent the pos- 
sibility of gangrene supervening. It is more^useful in the ox, ac- 
cording to Lafosse, who recommends to pare the foot down to the 



118 

quick and to put on the shoe again if the animal has to continue 
its journey. 

The topical applications employed are varied and numerous ; 
the simplest and most practical is cold water, cold baths at half 
the leg, taken in running water, if it can be done, and if the 
animal stands up ; walking in the water is then recommended, if 
practicable, walking increasing the venous circulation of the part. 
Instead of running water, ponds, marshy grounds, pools of stag- 
nant water, or even liquid manure may serve the same purpose. 
In establishments where there are many horses there are special 
tubs where the water is constantly changed. The animal may be 
placed in some of these up to his fetlock in an astringent solution. 
Mathew has invented an apparatus for continued irrigation, con- 
sisting of a reservoir of water elevated above the body of the an- 
imal : around each coronet is placed in shape of a bracket, a tube of 
india rubber, perforated with holes opening on the hoof ; from 
the reservoir runs a tube which bifurcates and furnishes to each 
leg a descending division connected with the bracket. The water 
is then allowed to run around the coronet and drip over the foot, 
fnstead of simple water the use of snow or broken ice has been 
recommended, wrapped in cloth round the hoof ; pads of oakum 
dipped in solution of salt, sulphate of iron, or alum ; clay poul- 
tices mixed with vinegar have also been used. As the heat of the 
foot has a tendency to rise, the temperature of the liquid or of the 
topic used must be often changed in order to keep up its an- 
tiphlogistic effect. Baths of sulphate of iron are especially in- 
dicated in cases of traumatism. 

Irritating frictions used as derivatives are also recommended, 
but their efficacy in this case is at least problematical. Irritation, 
when the congestion is somewhat passive, is not easy to produce. 
However, frictions of the hock with oil of turpentine, by the pain 
they produce stimulating the animal to move and not allowing 
him to remain in a state of almost complete immobilit}'^, may be ad- 
vantageous. Blisters around the coronet are useful towards the 
third or fourth day, when plastic exudation or hj^persecretion of 
the hoof are to be feared. 

Frog seton is recommended by English practitioners ; Gabriel 



119 

says it is a sure means to prevent the separation of the nail. This 
seems to us unwarranted. Internally, the administration of nitre, 
cream of tartar, ammoniacal salts, sulphate of soda, are given ; 
drugs which are indicated by the febrile state ; alkaline remedies 
are administered to render the blood more fluid and increase the 
venous circulation. Aloes, recommended in England and by Hert- 
wig, is contra-indicated, as increasing the disease and facilitating 
the dropping of the foot. 

It has been advised to take the shoes off. This is not only a 
difficult operation, on account of the sufferings of the animal, 
obliged to stand up on one leg, but it seems to us useless. Shoe- 
ing has not the effect supposed of it in the etiology. If it is well 
fitted it is not uncomfortable to the foot, while its removal from the 
shoe, by the hammering it requires, is always painful, and had 
better be avoided. 

•It has been recommended to pare the foot, to shorten it, to 
thin the sole down ; but this operation seems to us in many cases 
superfluous. It is true that the topics will act more readily upon 
the living tissues underneath, but the advantages thus obtained do 
not compensate for the difficulty of the operation ; at any rate it 
cannot be done except when the animal lies down. 

We shall pass silently the effect, so to speak homeopathic, that 
English veterinarians pretend to obtain with very warm poultices 
around the foot, and which have their reasons only when suppu- 
ration or gangrene is threatening. Neither shall we refer to the 
compression of the foot, recommended by Nanzio — a treatment 
which is much nicer in theory than in practice. In a great number of 
cases the patient is considerably relieved by resting on a good bed, 
and this is especially necessary for severe laminitis when locomo- 
tion is very painful. However, in less serious cases, walking on 
soft ground, especially on grass, iy an excellent treatment. It 
stimulates the circulation in parts where the blood has a tendency 
to accumulate, and controls the venous engorgement of the kera- 
togenous tissue. It has been sometimes recommended to support 
the animal in slings to relieve him ; but as with this one would ex- 
pose his patient to pulmonary complications, it is better to cast 
him and keep him in that forced position, being careful to turn 
him over from time to time. 



120 

A dietetic regime, light feeding, during the first days at least, 
cooling drinks, rectal injections and comfortable blankets are all 
indicated. 

One must particularly watch what takes place in the foot, and 
for this purpose grooves made at the surface of the foot have also 
been recommended ; but they cannot be made deep enough, as 
the wall is always there resisting more or less to the eccentric 
forces of the deep parts. 

If towards the third or fourth day there is no marked im- 
provement, especially in traumatic founder, if even the patient 
becomes worse, if the pulsation at the digital arteries is stronger, 
harder and more frequent, it becomes necessary at once to thin 
the sole down, and make a puncture upon the line of demarca- 
tion of the sole and wall with the drawing knife. Often then a 
flow of pus or blood, more or less altered, takes place, the nature 
of which indicates the progress of the disease. If it is of a grey 
blackish color, it is evidence that the horny tissue only is affected; 
while if white, it indicates a greater change. Hertwig advises 
this operation always, when laminitis is of long duration. He thus 
produces an artificial seedy toe, which is considered the mildest 
form of the disease. He recommends to make a deep groove 
upon this white line so far as there is separation of the wall from 
the podophyllous tissue, and then combines the treatment with 
the use of astringent baths of sulphate of copper. We have on 
several occasions been pleased with this treatment, combining it 
with the application of a blister around the coronet. It is prefer- 
able to the longitudinal grooves, or to the trephining, which is 
sometimes recommended. 

There are numerous cases, however, when, notwithstanding all 
these rational means, the disease cannot be arrested, and when a 
fatally chronic laminitis ensues. This must be considered incur- 
able in the majority of cas'es. It is almost impossible to bring 
the foot back to its physiological condition, and, above all, to pre- 
vent the hypersecretion of the hoof which characterizes it. 

However, in case of simple seedy toe, if it is the result of 
hoemorrhage, or even of suppuration, a cure may sometimes be ob- 
tained. Generally, by thinning it down, the entire portion of tlie 



121 

wall which, at the toe, the mammse and the anterior part of the 
quarters is superposed to the keraphyllous hoof, without adhering 
to it, is removed. The keraphyllous hoof, also, is thinned down 
in its whole extent; then a dressing of hoof ointment or tar is 
applied so as to protect it from drying and to keep it supple. In 
these cases the hoof coming down from the coronary band has 
sometimes united with that flowing over the podophyllous 
lammse. At other times the seedy toe is only cleaned of its con- 
tents, and is filled with medicated oakum, if there is a wound of 
the podophyllous tissue, or with hoof ointment and Venice tur- 
pentine, the whole being kept in place by a wide web shoe. The 
last treatment seems to us the best, only instead of hoof ointment 
we employ gutti percha, melted with gum ammoniac, as recom- 
mended by Defays. For this there must be no wound, and the 
cavity must be well cleaned of all substances, or even washed 
with ether to remove all greasy substances whicli would prevent 
the gutta percha from adhesion with tha hoof. This course has 
enabled us to see deep seedy toes recover by the gradual growth 
of the foot. Hence, the indication to try to obtain an artificial 
seedy toe as early as possible, as recommended by Hcrtwig. 

When there is thickening of the keraphyllous horn and adhe- 
sion with the wall; when, also, the toe is formed entirely by a de- 
formed horny mass, the case is more serious and the treatment 
more uncertain. It has been recommended, wrongly, we believe, 
to perform the operation which consists in cutting off all the pro- 
truding hoof — to even cut off all the accidental production. To do 
this the rasp and drawing knife are used, the keraphyllous mass 
being thrown down as much as possible. D'Arboval has also ad- 
vised to make with the drawing knife an artificial seedy toe be- 
tween the internal face of the wall proper, which is preserved, 
and the anterior face of the podophyllous apparatus, upon which 
a thin layer is left. This treatment has an advantage over the 
other of keeping the wall intact, to i-ender easier and more solid 
the application of the shoe which is to protect tlie foot and allow 
the animal to resume his work. This operation, however, is only 
palliative. It, however, gives great relief, especially in the first 
steps of chronic laminitis. 



122 

Gross has been satisfied with thinning down with the rasp the 
superior part of the wall, below the coronet, in a width of about 
four centimeters, in such a way that from one heel to the other 
there was only a very thin coat, which lie protected with basilic- 
on ointment. The coronet was then stimulated with a little oil 
of cantharidos. Under this treatment a new growth of hoof is 
started, not so protruding, and by paring down by degrees the 
hoof, a new foot was grown in a few months, less deformed and 
more regular. 

Meyer and Gunther say that they have obtained good suc- 
cess with this treatment, which nearly resembles that of Gohier 
and Dehau, except that with those the entire wall was pared 
down to a thin pellicle, flexible under the pressure of the finger. 
Silberman advised to place around the hoof, below the coronary 
band, after paring it down thin, a band of steel, two fingers wide, 
which could be tightened by a screw placed at the heels. In this 
way the secretion of the coronary band was kept under control, 
but not that of the podophyllous tissue. 

Generally in these cases the suppleness of the hoof must be 
kept up by appropriate topics. It must be cut off when too 
thick, and a shoe must be applied sufficiently wide in the web to 
protect the anterior part of the sole as far as the point of the 
frog. Tliis shoe must be quite hollow on the foot surface, so as 
to avoid any pressure upon the sole. It must be nailed on prin- 
cipally at the heels, as nails at the toe would not hold sufiiciently. 
Between the shoe and the foot a piece of gutta percha, or felt or 
leather may be put on. Thus shod, a horse will still do long ser- 
vice, even in cities, and mucli more in the country. 

When there is a wound at the sole, with separation of the 
part, suppuration, caries of the os pedis, which protrudes through 
the sole, it is advised to have recourse to a surgical operation. The 
contents of the abscess under the sole must be evacuated, and the 
sole thinned down in the entire plantar region. If the bone is 
carious it is scraped, the necrosed parts are removed, and a pro- 
per dressing, kept up by plates under the shoe, is put on. There 
are a few cases where b^^ this treatment horses have been enabled 
to resume their work. 



123 

Often in chronic laininitis when, notwithstanding the opera- 
tion and the shoeing, the horse is nnable to resume his work, ac- 
cording to H. Bouley, the operation of neurotomy will then be 
beneHcial. Grad is not of the same opinion. He claims that the 
relief is then uncertain and only temporary. Jessen, Hering, 
&c., say that this operation is followed very often by the slough- 
ing of the hoof, and the animals stumble very easily. According 
to Bran ell this operation is followed by a greater growth of the 
hoof. If the lameness is reduced after the operation the deform- 
ity of the foot continues to increase. 

NAVICULAR DISEASP:. 

Synonyms. — Chronische IIufgenMah7ne, German ; MaladieNa- 
viculaire, French. This disease, called by Loisel and H. Bouley, 
podosesainoideal synovitis (synovite podosesamoidienne) ; by 
Brauell, chronic podotrochlitis, is an inflammation of the sesamoid 
sheath of the horse, that Turner and some other English veterina- 
rians were the first to describe, and which is mostly observed in 
thoroughbreds. 

The disease is principally seen in the fore feet, and more com- 
monly in one foot alone ; sometimes, however, both legs are af- 
fected, one first, and the other, following. Navicular disease of 
the hind feet is seldom observed. 

It is accompanied with lameness and deformity of the foot, 
and often proves rebellious to treatment. It is followed by con- 
traction of the heels, {encastelure) which is itself often mistaken 
for navicular disease. At any rate, the affections are nearly re- 
lated, whether the disease of the sesamoid sheath, first occurring, 
is followed by the contraction, or that the hoof, originally con- 
tracted, gives rise to the subsequent alterations of structure which 
constitute navicularthritis. At present we shall only consider 
the deep inflammation of the podosesamoideal articulation, oc- 
curring without primitive alteration in the form of the foot. 

I. — Symptoms. — These are at first obscure. The lesion is 
deeply situated, and is, so to speak, concealed in the hoof, which 
itself, is generally at first of very limited extent. The first symp- 
tom which attracts attention is the lameness, which sometimes. 



124 

indeed, seems to be merely a certain weakness of the affected leg. 
This lameness is at first intermittent and slight, but gradually in- 
creases. When in the stable, the animal " points," that is, the 
diseased foot is carried forward of a vertical line, and assumes a 
state of general relaxation of the muscles, with the coronet 
straightened .md the foot mostly i-esting on the toe. This incom- 
plete rest of the leg, which is sometimes kept in motion forward 
and backwards, becomes especially apparent if the animal is 
moved backward in his stall. He then sets down his foot with 
much hesitation, and for a short time ; the same thing also occurs 
when, in order to relieve the opposite leg. the animal puts all his 
weight on the diseased one. Still, a close examination of the foot 
fails to reveal any marked lesion ; no change of form appearing, 
no pain at the coronary band ; merely a little heat toward the 
heels, or on the frog, where there can also be found a certain 
amount of low and deep sensibility, made apparent only by per- 
cussion of the hammer upon the foot, or by the pressure with the 
blacksmith's nippers, principally toward the heels and the frog. 
According to Lafosse, the frog is often found indurated, atrophied 
and thrushy. If exercised, the horse frequently stumbles, and 
sometimes falls on his knees ; he fears the pain of resting the heels 
on the ground, and is limited in the movements of his knee and 
fetlock. If the heels are pared off, in such a manner that the 
frog is well prominent, and the horse becomes much heated, the 
lameness is increased, although at first it may have been very 
slight. Blacksmiths may frequently obtain the same result by 
placing under the foot a bar shoe, which, then resting on the frog, 
and not the heels, greatly aggravates the lameness until it becomes 
excessive. This mode of diagnosis was originally indicated by 
Brauell : When, after more or less exercise, the animal is allowed 
to cool off, he at once points, straightens his fetlock, and slightly 
flexes the knee; the leg has a trembling motion, and no rest is 
taken upon tlie heels. 

There are, however, according to Hertwig, cases where navic- 
ular disease suddenly reaches a period where, in the stable, the 
animal avoids all resting on the heel ; points constantly, and hesi- 
tates to put his foot on the ground when made to walk. It always 



125 

seems that there must be some traumatic lesion in the foot, as a 
punctured wound or a suppurating corn ; and still there is no in- 
creased heat in the hoof, and no extraordinary pulsation of the 
arteries of the foot. 

The disease has a tendency to increase, and the animal soon 
becomes very lame upon being put to work, especially on a hard 
road or rough ground. The heat of the foot is increased princi- 
pally after work, though not in proportion to the lameness.. The 
sensibility of the foot is also more manifest under the exploring 
pressure of the nippers. In the stable the pointing is well 
marked and the trembling of the leg gives signs of deep and per- 
sistent pain. It is only after several months of this suffering that 
the foot begins gradually to show a change of shape. It then 
becomes visibly narrowed and elongated, in a manner which can 
readily be detected both by sight and measurement. There is a 
general atrophj'of the hoof ; theperioplehas disappeared, or scales 
off ; the foot becomes covered with ridges, more or less marked, 
but better developed towards the heels; the frog has become 
sunken and atrophied ; the sole is ecchymosed, presenting evi- 
dences of corns ; and the leg is atrophied, especially about the 
muscles of the slioulder. 

In cases where both fore-feet are affected, the animal points 
with either foot alternately, while seeking the desired relief for 
each, but the rest on cither is veiy short. The hind legs are 
brought under the centre of gravity, the back is arched, and the 
decubitus prolonged. In stepping out of the stable, both fore 
feet are held stiffly, and kept close to the ground ; the animal 
stumbles on his fetlocks, and often falls, and one might suspect 
him of being weak. In walking, his shoulders seem to be rigidly 
attached to his body, but as he warms up the legs move more 
freely and his actions become less limited ; but immediately on 
cooling off, and especially the day following one of hard work, 
all the symptoms reappear, with even aggravated intensity. The 
disease increases steadily with the lapse of time. When one, or 
what is more rarely the case, both hind feet are affected (Loiset 
has seen it occur), the animal is stiff behind ; he is lame on one 
or both feet ; he puts his foot on the toe only ; knuckles at the 



126 

fetlock ; and presently an atrophy of the muscles of the superior 
regions takes place. 

II. — Progress, Duration, Termination. — The disease generally 
maintains a steady progress ; nevertheless it very often undergoes 
a remission, due to the hygienic conditions in which the animal is 
placed ; to the seasons ; to the state of the atmosphere, and to 
other causes. It may diminisli in severity, and its symptoms dis- 
appear, while in its first period, if the animals are left at rest — 
without shoes if possible — loose in a box, with damp bedding, or 
in a marshy field ; or in winter, during the rainy season, while 
the atmosphere continues in a moist condition for a long period. 
It is, under these circumstances, not uncommon to see feet which 
had become contracted quite recover their natural dimensions. 
Aside from these exceptional cases of recovery, the lesion keeps 
on slowly destroying the tissues where it exists ; the lameness re- 
mains constant, or becomes intermittent for years, sometimes after 
the animals have become entirely unfit for work. There are fre- 
quent complications involving the surrounding parts ; sometimes 
a true arthritis, and besides the complete atrophy of the muscles 
of the shoulder, the carpal ligament becomes thickened, the ten- 
don of the perforans undergoes the same alteration, and ring- 
bones and side-bones may follow. Again, however, the animal 
may become knuckled to such a degree that ho can scarcely rest 
his foot on the ground at all. 

III. — Pathological Anatomy. — As we have said, the disease 
has its seat in the synovial capsule, formed by the small sesamoid 
sheath between the navicular bone and the perforans tendon, slid- 
ing upon it. At first may be observed a certain injection of the 
sj'novia, and a darker hue in the coloration of the trochlear car- 
tilage with the corresponding face of the tendon, the synovia be- 
coming reddish and thick, the surrounding cellular tissue becom- 
ing, also, inflamed and infiltrated. At a later period, when the 
disease has somewhat progressed, there is a thickening of the 
walls of the capsule, which is then filled with a clear citrine serosity. 
There is then, a kind of hygroma, a chronic dropsical condition 
of the sheath. In the interior of this are found fibrous bands, 
running from the tendon to the bone. If the disease is older. 



127 

erosions are found upon the diarthrodial surface of the navicular, 
varying in number and in size, and the tendon is roughened on its 
anterior face, with longitudinal fissures. At times, it becomes 
atrophied and thin, dry and brittle ; and has been found, it is said, 
ruptured transversely. In many cases, the cartilage covering the 
bone has disappeared and the bone is exposed, hollowed and 
affected with osteoporosis. The union of the bone with the ten- 
don has also been found among the varieties of determination. 

IV. — Diagnosis. — This disease is at first easily Uiistaken for 
some form of rheumatic affection. Where pain is the main symp- 
tom it is easily detected, but where there are no otlier signs of 
inflammation, it is just the lack of proportion between the inten- 
sity of the lameness and the serious symptoms, such as the absence 
of heat ; of special sensibility ; of pulsations in the digits, which 
distinguishes navicular disease from other affections of the feet. 
The error with contracted heels is easier, as here the change of 
form of the foot being primitive, at once attracts the attention 
of the practitioner ; while this alteration in the foot is absent in 
navicularthritis at the outset of the disease. 

Y. — Prognosis. — Generally, it is unfavorable, as most com- 
monly the veterinarian is called only when the disease has already 
made serious progress and passed into the chronic stage ; and 
again, because of the difliculty of reaching the disease by reason 
of its peculiar location. 

VI. — Etiology. — To properly understand the etiology of this 
disease, one must bear in mind the part played by the anterior 
legs in the action of locomotion. Columns of support more than 
of impulsion, it is their ofliee to sustain the weight of the body 
when it is thrown forward by the extension of the liind legs. 
The reaction of the ground is first felt at the shoulders, through 
the muscular slings which attach them to the trunk, but it is partly 
diminished in the scapulo-humeral joint, which closes, notwith- 
standing the resistance of the muscles implanted on its apex. 
The remaining force is transmitted to the vertical column, repre- 
sented by the union of the radius, the carpus and the metacarpus. 
Reaching the digital region, this force is there decomposed. 
Part of it, passing on the phalanx, loses itself and disappears in 



128 

front of the horny box of the foot, the other being thrown upon 
the flexor tendons, and finally upon the perforans, which distrib- 
utes it to the posterior parts of the foot, and to the navicular 
bone. It must be observed that in this complex action of decom- 
position of the shock, the os sesamoid, though pushed from before 
backward by the os coronse, is, however, supported by the resist- 
ance of the perforans tendon. Consequently, both the bone and 
the tendon are pressing upon each other, when the feet are placed 
on the ground, throwing the body forward by the impulse of the 
hinder parts, and thus press powerfully against each other. 

When this pressure takes place in an animal going full speed, 
and a good and high stepper, it may commence by becoming 
merely a slight contusion, but, if often repeated, the result may 
be some lesion upon the corresponding surface of the bone and of 
the tendon, or of the synovial which facilitates their movements. 
But the energy of action in the animal cannot be considered the 
only producing cause of these lesions, as a vice of conformation 
in the foot, a want of elasticity in its posterior parts where the 
resisting power is diminished, may also produce it. The disease, 
then, is observed in animals whose plantar cushion, covered by a 
small, dry and atrophied frog, is itself badly developed, from 
being compressed between the bars, which are more vertical, or 
the heels, which are more contracted ; all these being conditions 
which diminish the flexibility of the back of the foot. 

Two principal causes, then, co-operate in the genesis of 
navicular disease, and are almost always present in animals thus 
affected. On the one hand, it will appear amongst well-bred ani- 
mals, especially those of English breeds, those from Hanover, 
Mecklenburg and Normandy, which will be more affected. 
Loiset and Lafosse, however, have seen it in common breeds, in 
animals with flat feet and soft horns. Lafosse says he has seen it 
in mules. But besides this influence of the breed, there is the 
effect of what we may denominate the hygiene of the foot : the 
too dry bedding, certain wrong modes of shoeing and all the pre- 
disposing causes of contracted heels. Let us add also, as a cause, 
the effect of changing the animals from marshy fields, where they 
were walking on soft, damp ground, to stables with dry bedding — 



129 

a cause commonly present in horses transported from Northern 
Germany to the south. Hard work and excessive exercise are 
also causes of this affection — for example, jumping fences with a 
heavy rider, slipping in steeple-chases, racing, a sudden stop on 
the forefeet, especially on stony, hard, frozen or rough grounds. 
All these are frnitful causes of navicular disease. 

Traumatic causes, such as punctured wounds, involving the 
sesamoideal slieath, are also productive causes which may origi- 
nate navicular disease. We do not believe in internal causes, 
nor admit, with Loiset, that visceral inflammation, sudden arrest 
of perspiration, especially of the lower part of the legs, can pro- 
duce the disease. We should rather anticipate that these metas- 
tases would affect more the more important serous structures. 
Neither can we admit, with Lafosse, that this affection can also 
follow a sudden arrest of the milky secretion. 

VII. — Treatment. — We have seen, in speaking of the termi- 
nations of this lesion, that in certain peculiar circumstances which 
may be accounted favorable to the return of the elasticity of the 
foot, a spontaneous recovery is possible. This leads us to the 
measure of the prophylactic means proper to be used ; and it seems 
evident that by a better hygiene of the feet, by rational shoeing, 
sometimes by putting young horses only gradually to fast work, 
one may, in many cases, avoid navicular disease. 

While it is in its first stages, one may with care and patience, 
sometimes relieve the patient. In this case, absolute rest is counter- 
indicated, but on the contrary, moderate exercise, upon even and 
not too hard ground ; or, if the lameness is great, walking exer- 
cise only, at a moderate gait. The absorption of the serosity 
present is made easier by a little exercise, than by absolute rest. 
Bleeding from the toe, or the veins of the affected legs, is also, at 
least, superfluous, the disease becoming chronic almost at the out- 
set. It is also a good practice to shoe the horse, and above all, to 
remove the shoe frequently. The best shoeing is that which 
allows for the natural expansion of the hoof. The Charlier shoe 
has proved useful, while the bar shoe, which is heavier, and 
presses upon the frog, is counter-indicated. It is important to en- 
courage the suppleness of the hoof by proper ointment, especi- 



130 

ally the application of glycerine, and to have under the feet a 
bedding always slightly damp and soft. The bedding of moist 
saw-dust is very covenient ; we prefer it to poultices, and even to 
the tepid alkaline baths mentioned by Hertwig. At times, at in- 
tervals of about eight days, and then during two consecutive days, 
a good friction with blister ointment above the coronet is advan- 
tageous, as well as one with Lebas' ointment. English practitioners 
prefer salines ; the better treatment would be to turn the animal 
to grass. Branell advises iodine internally, and says he Jias found 
it work well. Others recommend diuretics. Setons in the shoul- 
ders or chest, seem to us inexpedient. We prefer the administra- 
tion of a purgative ball every eight days. Sewell and Brauell advise 
a seton, running from the hollow of the coronet through the 
plantar cushion, a little behind the tendon of the perforans, and 
within a short distance, therefore, of the diseased capsule, making 
its exit at the anterior third of the frog. This drain is to be main- 
tained for two, three, and even four weeks; Sewell, Brauell, Hert- 
wig, and several other veterinarians, English especially, claiming 
much benefit from it. This seton is introduced by means of a 
curved frog seton-needle ; it has been used but little in France. 
Bruner has recently proposed the puncture of the sesamoideal 
capsule with a trochar, introduced in the hollow of tlie coronet, an 
operation only practicable if the serous collection can be felt out- 
wards. After the puncture he recommends an injection of iodine. 

Lafosse proposes after the removal of the sole, the transversal 
incision of the plantar cushion, with removal of a part of it, 
down to the tendon, following the axis of the sesamoid ; then the 
cauterization of the bone and its cartilage, in imitation of what is 
sometimes done in punctured wounds of the foot. Brauell rec- 
ommended as a useful surgical operation, the section of the perfor- 
ans tendon in the metacarpal region, in order to prevent friction 
against the sesamoid groove, and to allow an easier adhesion be- 
tween the tendon and the bone. But it is to be feared that this 
section, supposing that it proves successful, might so weaken the 
tendon as to render the animal unlit for fast work. 

If navicular disease should be accompanied with deviation of 
the wall, and contraction, true or false, the treatment will be that 



131 

of this affection in its simple form. An operation, often recom- 
mended, has been that of neurotomy, upon the posterior branches 
of the plantar nerves, repeated at intervals of at least fifteen 
days, in order to remove the lameness wholly, without entirely 
depriving the foot of the sensibility of feeling. Berger, Brauell, 
Bouley, Gross, Mandel and others, have obtained real success by 
it ; but it is attended with serious dangers ; at any rate the bene- 
fit is not of long duration, or about one year. The animal then 
stumbles more readily, and is more exposed to traumatic lesions, etc., 
and it is probable from this cause that double neurotomy is seen 
to be followed by softening of the deep parts of the foot, suppura- 
tion, sloughing of tlie foot, while the animal has previously shown 
no signs of pain. Consequently, neurotomy is an operation which 
finds its application only in peculiar and exceptional cases, and 
animals thus operated upon remain fit for light work only. 

QUITTOB, 

Synonyms. — Fesselgeschw^ir, German ; giarila^ Italian ; gia- 
larrs^ Spanish ; javart, French. 

A name of unknown etymology, by which old hippiatrics des- 
ignate various affections of the inferior regions of the legs of the 
horse, donkey and mule, and even of bovines. These possess the 
common character of a degeneration of a portion of the tissues, 
that is expelled by the efforts of nature under the form of a 
slough {hourhilloji). There is a softening of the mortified struc- 
tures, and an elimination by suppuration. In several old works 
these sloughs are called quittors, {javart) and this name has been 
extended to the disease itself. 

This name having been preserved by use, notwithstanding the 
efforts of Vatel in opposition, we shall also employ it, and 
with Girard, recognize : 1st. The sim/ple or cutaneoxis quittor, 
which is only the furuncle which occurs in the thickness of the 
dermoid structure nearest to the coronary band. 2d. The tendin- 
ous quittor^ which greatly resembles the felon of man, where a 
portion of the sub-cutaneous cellular tissue, and of a tendon 
sloughs out. 3d. The sub-horny quittor^ the furuncle of the cuti- 
^ura of the coronary band itself, the slough involving the superior 



132 

portion of the laminated tissue, ith. The cartilaginous quittor, 
or the limited caries of the lateral fibro-cartilage of the os pedis, 
and which old writers compounded with the horny quittor. We 
might join to those the furuncle of the frog, (see vol. 6, page 204). 
We believe it useless at present to enter upon a general consider- 
ation upon quittor, and will proceed to examine the pathological 
phenomena presented by each variety. 

A. — Cutaneous Quittor. — This is a simple furuncle of the 
coronary region of the foot, in that part of the dermis nearest to 
the coronary band, having, however, a special character on account 
of the extraordinary thickness and inelasticity of the dermis of 
the region it occupies, the result being a kind of strangulation of 
the inflamed tissue beneath, and a very painful compression. It 
is through error that some authors have designated by the same 
name, the furuncle of the canon, of the fetlock, and of the coro- 
net. 

The hind feet are more subject to it than the fore, and it is 
more frequent at the heels, at the flexure of the fetlock, though 
it is also observed on the sides and front of the coronet, in which 
case it is much more painful. Cutaneous quittor has also been 
observed in bovines, where, however, as we shall see as we pro- 
ceed, it isgenerally complicated with the tendinous variety, and 
becomes a true felon. 

I. — Symptoms. — Cutaneous quittor is characterized by an in- 
flammatory tumor or swelling, warm, painful, and tense, of the 
coronary region of the foot, the color of the skin being but little 
changed, if it is dark, but if the skin is light then the red- 
ness is well marked. This swelling is accompanied with a diffused 
sedema, extending to the fetlock, or even to the hock. We often 
find angeioleucites, or rather what we call leucophlegmasise. The 
lameness is generally extreme, and the animal frequently can 
scarcely rest on the diseased leg. The pain is sometimes so great 
as to induce general fever and loss of appetite, and the animal 
becomes dull and depressed. After acquiring certain dimensions 
the tumor shows a tendency to soften at its summit, its base, how- 
ever, remaining hard for a considerable time. Rising more and 
more, it soon ulcerates at a point from which flows a small quan- 



133 

tity of bloody pus, followed by the appearance of the slough, 
{hourhillon). An abscess is now formed in the tumor, which, as it 
opens, carries with it a portion of the skin, sometimes limited, 
at others measuring from four to ten centimeters, and there is a 
slough formed of the subcutaneous cellular tissue which separates 
by the suppuration with the portion of dead skin. This comes 
out by degrees. It is still adherent by its base and cannot be 
pulled out with the forceps unless by tearing and with acute pain, 
and this is often followed by slight hemorrhage. A few days 
later it will, however, become entirely loose, and in its place there 
will remain a cylindroid open cavity extending through the tumor, 
from its summit to its bottom, and from this a deep wound results, 
followed by a sero-bloody secretion, mingled with pus. As soon as 
the slough has taken place, or when it begins, the lameness sub- 
sides, as well as all the other phenomena of the pain. The wound 
heals up rapidly if there is no complication. 

Cutaneous may easily be complicated with tendinous quittor if 
the disease or process of sloughing of the mortified tissues extends 
to the tendons or ligaments of the region involved. This com- 
plication is specially common in bovines, where cutaneous quittor 
generally gives rise to more swelling and greater suffering than 
the horse. 

This quittor has quite a rapid progress, and may last from eight 
to fifteen days ; very seldom longer. At times it seems to be a 
single furuncle; at other times there are several existing 
together. Often again, they come in succession, the first one 
treated being soon followed by others. This is said to take place 
principally when the diseased part remains exposed to the action 
of irritating substances, and relapses are prevented by protecting 
the part from the effects of these occasional causes. 

II. — Pathological Anatomy. — It is an inflammation of the very 
abundant sub-cutaneous cellular tissue of the region, spreading 
from a starting point; the inflamed tissues are mortified and 
become gangrenous, and by a process of suppuration, the economy 
attempts to eliminate tliem. The slough represents more particu- 
larly the inflamed cellular tissue, which is thickened, and which 
has become filamentous and hard and much impregnated with 
purulent serosity. 



134 

III. — Etiology. — Contusions of the region, bruises and punc- 
tured wounds are quite frequent causes of cutaneous quittor, but 
it may also take place without evidence of determining causes. 
Mud, manure, urine, all filth in which animals have to walk or 
remain, are also considered as causes. For this reason the disease 
is more common in the fall and winter, on account of the action 
of cold at times, and frozen mud. It is also more frequent in cities 
than in tlie country. Ray observes that the mud of cities is al- 
ways more irritating and contains mineral substances, especially 
lime, alkalines and salts, and other substances. Tlie gutters of 
some industrial establishments have also a direct irritating action. 
D'Arboval has observed that the mud of places where mineral 
springs exist is more irritating, as also are calcareous soils, where 
cutaneous quittor is more frequent than in any other. Common, 
large horses, notwithstanding their thick skins — or, rather on that 
account and on account of the hair which covers it — are more 
commonly affected than private horses. Towing horses are much 
more exposed to the disease than those otherwise employed. 

IV. — Treatment. — As a first direction, during the course of 
the treatment it is always a prudent rule not to work the animal 
and to keep it in the stable, the feet being kept dry on a good 
bedding. An internal treatment is seldom necessary to control 
the general symptoms ; if any is required, ordinary salines will 
generally be sufficient. It is necessary to assist the process of 
suppuration of the abscess by emollients, warm baths, poultices 
of flaxseed or of marshmallows, with melted lard, applied quite 
warm, or by the application of a mixture of honey and bran or 
flour. We have applied a coating of blister ointment to the tu- 
mor, covered with a warm poultice ; the maturing effect is then 
very rapid. It is often necessary to lance the tumor to reduce 
the pain and prevent the mortification of a large piece of skin. 
This operation is recommended by D'Arboval and H. Bouley, 
and is specially indicated when the tumor is much developed. It 
is then important to incise in the entire thickness of the dermis 
and to a suflicient length, and if necessary to make several par- 
allel incisions which will give rise to a copious flow of blood. In 
tbi? mode the parts are relieved, the pressure of the tumefaction 



135 

is reduced and the gangrene diminished, if not entirely prevented. 
It is necessary — and we insist on this point — to incise so deeply 
that the tumefied skin is divided in its entire thickness. We have 
seen blacksmiths thus operate by the introduction of points of 
cauterization in the summit of the abscess ; but this mode, though 
facilitating the sloughing of the strangulated part and reducing 
the compression, ought not to be preferred to the incision with a 
sharp instrument — cauterization is more painful. 

When gangrene exists and the abscess is open, the incision is 
certainly less efficacious than at the outset, but it is not for that 
reason useless, as it relieves the pain and prevents excessive com- 
pression. We do not by it attempt to loosen the slough, which it 
is advantageous to have detaching loose itself when it holds only 
by its base. If the abscess, once formed, is slow to ulcerate, 
making a point of cauterization is a good way to stimulate the 
escape of the matter of the slough. This mode of opening produces 
in the part an increase of vital action and forms a sore of benign 
character, which falls off by the effect of the suppuration formed 
underneath, and which is nearly always followed by a compara- 
tively speedy recovery. To obtain this radical cure it remains to 
continue the use of the ordinary means to facilitate suppuration 
and bring on resolution. If the wound is pale and covered at 
the bottom with large granulations, it must be dressed first with 
basilicon ointment and afterward with alcoholic liquids, as spirits 
of camphor, tincture of aloes, or simply an aromatic infusion j 
at times baths of sulphate of iron, with a little sulphate of cop- 
per, are indicated; or, when the wound has become red, the 
granulations vascular and of healthy character, a simple dressing 
of cegyptiacum ointment, diluted in vinegar, is enough. If proud 
flesh develops itself, it must be cut off. It is important to have 
the wound covered with a protecting dressing, which must be re- 
newed daily if the suppuration is very abundant, or it may some- 
times be left on for two days. 

B. — Tendinous QurrroK. — Synonyms — Hornwurne (Germ.) — 
It is the nervous quittor of hippiatres, and the analogue of the 
felon of man. It is again a furuncle, different from the preced- 
ing, only because instead of being limited to the skin and subcuta- 



136 

neons cellular tissue, there is caries of a portion of the tendons 
(especially the flexors), or of the ligaments of the region, and also, 
at times, necrosis of the bone with synovitis and arthritis. By 
extension, though we think, improperly, the name has also been 
given to the felon of the region of the cannon, while the applica- 
tion ought to be confined to that of the digital region, situated 
in the fold of the fetlock. 

The quittor may be superficial or deep-seated when it affects 
only the subcutaneous cellular tissue, uniting the skin to the ten- 
dons, or where the inflammation extends to the phalangeal sheath, 
and the pus accumulates into in. Differing from cutaneous 
quittor, this form, generally less common, is more frequently seen 
in the anterior than the posterior extremities. It may also be 
seen in cattle. 

I. — Symptoms. — The first symptom is an excessive lameness, 
manifesting itself even where no visible change exists in the 
affected leg. The animal evidently suffers great pain, while his 
actions do not aid us in localizing it accurately, though the foot 
is always examined as being the probable seat of it, the animal 
raising it more rapidly than the other from the ground, and rest 
ing on it with much caution and hesitation. After from two to 
five days a phlegmonous tumor appears at the coronet, above the 
heel. It is extremely warm, and much more painful than that 
in cutaneous quittor, the hoof and the skin preventing the free 
development of the inflammation by strangulating it. The foot 
almost ceases to rest on the ground, but is flexed and raised from 
it, feeling in the parts being very painful. The swelling of the 
leg extends to the fetlock, or to the cannons, and even to the 
knee. The animal has more or less fever, and when there is a 
deep quittor he loses all his appetite, and ordinarily lies down 
and continues in the recumbent posture. 

Generally, much time is required for the phlegmon to assume 
the character of an absce^, as the slough, being in this case no 
longer formed by the cellular tissue, is slower to define itself. 
The process of suppuration is not so well localized ; there is, 
on the contrary, a kind of deep abscess, which probably becomes 
complicated by the resistance opposed to the ulcerative inflamma- 



137 

tion by the aponeurosis of the sheath and the thickness of the 
skin. However this may be, it is always very difficult to recog- 
nize the presence of one or several of these abscesses, even when 
they form in the subcutaneous cellular tissue, and so much the 
more if the purulent gatliering is deeply seated. 

After the opening of the abscess and exfoliation of the slough, 
either with or without the dropping of a portion of the skin, there 
does not remain the simple wound of the cutaneous quittor, but 
on the contrary, a persistent fistula, running down a necrosed 
point of the tendons or of the fibrous sheathes. At times, 
almost from the outset, we may observe in the fold of the coronet 
numerous little pimples, which terminate in as many deep fistulas, 
from which ooze a more or less thick humor, foetid, puriform and 
bloody. In infrequent cases, the disease is unaccompanied with 
suppuration, and there is a swelling, more or less hard, with a 
gradual diminution of the pain and other inflammatory symptoms. 
A more frequent complication is tlie suppurative inflammation 
of the tendinous sheaths, or even of the digital articulations. 
There may also be a diffused gangrene, with separation of the 
hoof and .purulent infiltration under the horny box ; periostitis, 
and caries of the cartilage. This is the deep tendinous quittor in 
the most severe form. In this last case, especially if there is an 
accumulation of pus in the tendinous, sheath, the tumor is very 
painful, the slightest touch giving rise to the manifestation of ex- 
tremely acute suffering, the hoof being constantly raised from the 
ground. The fever is violent, there is a complete anorexia, and 
the exercise of all functions is more or less disturbed. The com- 
pulsory resting upon the healthy legs may give rise to swelling of 
the hocks, and even to laminitis. In cattle, tendinous quittor be- 
comes more painful than in the horse, and is always accompanied 
by a swelling which may extend to the knee. Rumination stops, 
and the animal endures great anguish. The slough is followed 
by a wound of varying depth, which often exposes the diseased 
articular surfaces of the phalange. If this remains too long, the 
pus may affect the inter-digital ligament, complicate the disease, 
and even make it incurable. In this case the amputation of one 
of the digits may sometimes be performed. 



138 

II. — Progress^ Duration and Termination. — The duration is 
generally protracted; the disease often _^ives rise to chronic 
lesions difficult to remove. This will be easily understood, if we 
remember that the region affected is composed, between the skin 
and the bones, of synovial capsules, ligaments, tendons and apon- 
euroses, more or less cellular tissue, and of very strong nervous 
ramifications. If the disease is not very deeply seated or unilat- 
eral, complete recovery may be looked for; but if there are 
chronic lesions, if the articular surfaces become affected ; especi- 
ally if particles of bone are sloughing, if the animal recovers it 
will be but imperfectly, and it will usually be accompanied by an- 
chylosis of the joint, and diffused gangrene is also a complication 
to be looked for. 

III. — Diagnosis. — We said at the beginning that tendinous 
quitter is a very obscure disease ; the lameness is very great, but 
not characteristic ; in proceeding, we referred to the acute local 
pains at the side of the tendinous cord of the cannon, the inflam- 
matory swelling, the increase of local pains, and the general re- 
active fever. 

lY. — Prognosis. — It is a very serious disease, on account of 
the possible complications and sequelae. The loss, or the deform- 
ity of a phalanx, which are sometimes among the sequelae of the 
felon of man, are in him, accidents which never give rise to 
serious complications, or are quickly forgotten, while in the horse . 
such complications are equivalent to the death of the animal. 

Y. — Etiology. — The causes are the same as those of a simple 
quittor which is complicated with the tendinous kind ; this is also 
observed after the subcutaneous abscesses, frequently resulting 
from bruises, or even from punctured wounds. It is most com- 
monly met with in low bred horses and Fisher says that it is more 
frequent, and less malignant, in young than in adult animals ; ac- 
cording to this writer it is a common manifestation of distemper. 
Irritating muds favor its development in the same manner in 
active as in simple quittor. It often appears without appreciable 
causes. 

YI. — Treatment. — When tendinous quittor is superficial it 
requires about the same treatment as the simple kind, except • 



139 • 

that in this case the counter openings must be made early to 
prevent the sloughs, migrations of the pus and the gangrene. 
The surgeon must not forget that the inflammation in this affection 
mast ordinarily terminate by suppuration, and he must bear in 
mind that there is a possibility of the modification of the in- 
flamed cellular tissue, and that the mortified portion of that tissue 
must slough out, as their presence too long continued may be 
very dangerous. The general indication is to prevent, as much 
as possible, the accumulation of the pus, an indication which will 
be best fulfilled by making openings for its escape, even before 
tlie formation of the abscess. As the tissues which surround the 
pus are very resisting, nature will not be able, or if so, only with 
great difiiculty, to effect the expulsion of these matters. It is 
for this reason that it is necessary to assist her operations by mak- 
ing an opening for the escape of the pus and of the slough. 
The operation is without danger ; but if it is not performed in 
good time the lesions will be likely to spread, the disease cease to 
remain a local trouble, and the life of the animal become com- 
promised. • 

It is also more necessary to make an opening when the 
purulent secretion is established, for in this case it is important 
to avoid delay and to facilitate its escape. A simple longi- 
tudinal incision, four or five centimeters long, is sufficient, when 
the collection lies immediately under the cutaneous organ. This 
incision must involve the whole thickness of the skin, as far as 
the tendons, and should be made in the middle of the coronet 
region, as near the foot as possible. It gives rise to an abundant 
hemorrhage, which relieves the part, and warm poultices and 
baths, to accelerate the suppuration, are then indicated. 

When the product of suppuration has passed in the tendin- 
ous sheath, a longitudinal opening of this part towards the most 
dependent points, is indicated. To do this, a canulated directory 
is introduced to guide the bistoury ; when the incision is made, 
the pus flows freely, and by this mode the large blood-vessels and 
the various ligaments of the region are avoided in the opera- 
tion. 

Notwithstanding the incision, or if the suppuration had 



. 140 

already accumulated before it was made, tlie pus may also accu- 
mulate in the pouch formed by the tendinous sheath behind the 
tendons. It is then very difficult to prevent its collection in those 
deep parts, and it may extend to the small sesamoid. It is be- 
cause the pus cannot run towards the skin that it filtrates along 
the tendon. It is only by pressure and by injections that the in- 
dications presented can be fulfilled. After making free incisions, 
one may try by pressure to remove the pus accumulated between 
the tendons and their sheaths, following it by cleansing injec- 
tions, which must be repeated as often as possible. 

The wounds which remain after the slough, in the superficial 
tendinous quittor, and that which follows the opening of the sim- 
ple or multiple abscesses when it is deeper, are always character- 
ized by the presence of fistulas running down to some necrotic 
spot of the tendons or of their sheaths. For these an injection 
is recommended of tincture of aloes, tincture of iodine, and some- 
times of Villate's solution ; lately, dressings with petroleum or 
phenic acid have been used. Phenicated baths, those of sulphate 
of iron and lotions of permanganate •of potash have also proved 
useful. At times, when tlie fistulas are persistent, it is necessary, 
after enlarging them, to have recourse to actual cauterization with 
a pointed cautery introduced, wliile at a white ]ieat, down to the 
bottom of the tract. A general dressing of the wound follows, 
with tincture of aloes, sometimes with egyptiacum. The dress- 
ings should be more or less frequent, according to the quantity 
of the pus discharged. We must dress until tlie wound is entirely 
healed, and it must moreover be carefully watched for fear of 
another infiltration of pus, or the formation of other fistulas. 

Superficial cauterization is necessary in order to remove the 
induration and swellings likely to follow, and to stimulate the 
resolution. The action of the firing may be stimulated by blister- 
ing, or by an alterative ointment of iodide of mercury, of sul- 
phur, &c. 

C. Sdb-horny Quittor. — This is the inflammation of the 
superior part of the keratogenous apparatus, of the cutidura ; or 
even of the superior parts of the sensitive laminae. This quittor 
is, therefore, located under the • horny box, and is more like the 



141 

cartilaginous kind, wliicli old hippiatrics, and especially Sollysel 
and Garsault, describe with it. It generally takes place on the 
quarter, and more seldom at the toe, or at the mammae. Some- 
times it is observed at the heels, but it is then of small consequence. 

I. — Symptoms. — The lameness is very great. The animal walks 
on three legs, and there is strong reactive fever, due to the ex- 
cessive pain, — this form of the disease being more painful than 
the others, in consequence of the pressure of the liornj' structure 
upon the inflamed tissues. At the origin of tlie nail a warm and 
very painful tumor is found ; the foot is hot and the hairs staring 
on the site of the injury. If the disease has existed for some 
time, there is a separation of the hoof at its origin, due to a sero- 
purulent exudation, and under the hoof suppuration and mortifica- 
tion of a more or less extensive portion of the coronary band, or 
of the laminae will be found. The suppuration which there 
exudes varies, being in rare instances blackish, as it is usually 
found in traumatic injuries of the hoof ; or, again, it is white and 
unctuous, with the odor of decaying cheese ; while more commonly 
it consists of a bloody or greyish matter, mixed with pus. 

If the mortified portion is not deeply seated, so that the slough 
can take place readily, the quittor is quite simple, since as soon 
as it has dropped off there is a well marked improvement. The 
pain then ceases almost instantaneously, and the wound at once 
progresses towards cicatrization. But it is not rare, even when 
the mortification is somewhat superficial, to find the sub-ungueal 
suppuration extending so that the matter runs under the hoof, 
producing at times a more or less serious fistula, or a separation 
of the sensitive and insensitive laminae. Girard says it has been 
seen to extend down to the sole, and to separate it from the 
velvety tissue. The deep sub-horny quittor may be complicated, 
forward, with necrosis of the tendon of the extensor muscle ; with 
the inflammation of the joint with caries of the os pedis, and 
even to assume the cartilaginous form of the disease by its ex- 
tension to the cartilages of the foot. 

After the recovery of the sub-horny quittor, if the coronary 
band has been mortified in its entire depth, the foot may present 
permanent longitudinal fissures, or seams, or transversal grooves, 



142 

presenting evidences of the existence of a cicatrical tissue when 
the quittor was in progress. 

II. — Prognosis. — The gravity of this quittor depends upon 
the depth of the disease. When superficial and affecting only 
the surface of the tissue, it is easy to cure, but if deeply seated 
it is more serious, on account of the possibility of complications. 

III. — Etiology. — Bruises and violent blows are the ordinary- 
causes of sub-horny quittor. It is commonly due to overreaching, 
or to the wounds occurring when animals are wearing long 
caulks, as in winter. The irritating effects of frozen mud has 
also been admitted as a cause. 

IV. — Treatment. — The superficial quittor requires a simple 
treatment. Emollient baths and maturating poultices are then 
indicated. It is a good plan to thin the wall with the rasp or 
the sage knife over the whole extent of the furuncular tumor to a 
height of about two fingers. Compresses of chloroformed oil, 
while it alleviates the pain, are also indicated to soften the wall. 
It frequently becomes necessary to puncture the tumor, but we 
prefer to cauterize it with a pointed iron, following the cauteri- 
zation with a poultice of honey with Venice turpentine or 
camphor. Some authors recommend astringent baths, as oak 
bark, or of sulphate of iron. It is often the case that after 
some interval following sloughing of the ho^irbillon, the wound 
continues to discharge a liquid secretion, which is an evidence 
that there is a tendency to accumulation of matter towards the 
lateral cartilage, or under the wall, in the laminae ; or that there 
is some carious spot existing. In the first, if probing horizontally, 
a cavity is detected, it is convincing evidence that a cartilaginous 
quittor is in course of development ; in the second case, the 
pressure and collection of the matter increases the inflammation 
of the laminae, separates the wall, and complicates the disease, 
necessitating the operation of the snb-horny guittor. 

The removal of the portion of the hoof which covers the 
lesion, must, however, include more than the purulent center, so 
that the diseased tissues may be well exposed and the suppurative 
process detach them readily. This removal, always proportioned 
to the internal lesions, is made either lengthwise, following the 



143 

direction of the horny fibres, or crosswise. In that ease, it will 
attack only a portion of the wall towards its point of union with 
the skin. This latter method, it is true, requires less cutting, 
but it has several quite serious objections and often necessitates 
a second operation. Even in cases where the growth of the 
granulations can be controlled, and where a good return of the 
horse is obtained, the hoof only recuperates its perfect integrity 
by the slow growth downwards of the wall. In some circum- 
stances the operation is completed by the removal of a portion, or 
even of the entire mass of the sole, when it is separated from the 
velvety tissue. 

The removal of a portion of the wall must be accomplished 
in the manner which will be indicated for cartilaginous quittor, 
in carefully avoiding the injury of the coronary band and of 
the podophyllous tissue. The diseased tissue being exposed, all 
that is of bad appearance is removed, the carious portion being 
freely taken off. An ordinary dressing of oakum with diluted 
alcohol, or any other drug, kept in place with a light shoe or 
slipper, entire or truncated, as the case requires, is then applied. 

As for all wounds of the foot, the dressing needs only to be 
changed when the pus accumulated under the oakum or other 
peculiar conditions indicate it. It is true that clianging the dress- 
ing is an effective means of cleansing the wound, but it has also 
the inconvenience of also irritating it, and especially at the be- 
ginning may tend to' interrupt the natural process of repair. It 
is of advantage, after the first dressings, to change them as in- 
frequently as possible. In this way hemorrhages, wliich may 
always be looked for, are avoided. This is a point of the first im- 
portance. It has been proved that even in operations where a por- 
tion of the wall has been removed, a dressing left on for from 
fifteen to twenty days without removal, was followed by rapid 
recovery, the new hoof growing under the oakum without sup- 
puration. It is useless to probe or wipe out the surface of the 
wound. On the second dressing, that is, after a few days, tjje 
parts begin to be covered with numerous white points, which are 
so many rudiments of hoof. These, which at first are soft, white 
and isolated, gather together by degrees, at first unite into a thin 



144 

layer, soft and yellowish. This becomes hard and thick ; it is the 
hoof secreted by the laminae, which, little by little, unites with that 
coming from the coronary band. Excessive granulations or proud 
flesh are removed in the ordinary way. 

I). — Caktilaginous Qoittor. — HufknoTpelfister^ (German) — 
{improperly called sub-horny quittor by Lafosse, Jr. ; coronary 
quittor of Vitet ; jibro-chondritis of the third phalanx, by Vatel ; 
sub-horny cartilaginous quittor of Girard ; quittor proper -of Del- 
wart). This form of quittor is peculiar to solipeds, they being 
the only animals which have fibro-cartilage on the os pedis. 

These fibro-cartilages are two pieces, which, with the plan- 
tar cushion, complete tlie os pedis and form the base of the heels, 
each representing a piece flattened sideway, parallelogram in 
shape, and extending posteriorly to tlie cofiin bone. Their external 
face is convex and pierced with foramina for the passage of veins 
and slightly overlays the surface of the bone of the foot. It is 
separated from the skin by a very rich vascular plexus. The 
internal face, concave, is hollowed by vascular grooves and covers, 
forward the articulation of the foot and the cul de sac of the 
synovial sac which protrudes between the two lateral ligaments of 
that joint. Downwards and backwards it is united to the plantar 
cushion, either by continuity of tissue, as near the inferior border, 
or by fibrous bands running from one to the other. The superior 
border, either convex or straight, is thin, and separated from the 
posterior by an obtuse angle in front of which it presents a deep 
notch for the passage of the blood vessels and nerves. The in- 
ferior border is attached, forward, to the basilar and retrosal 
processes of the os pedis. Behind this it reflects inwards,to continue 
to the inferior face of the plantar cushions. The posterior border, 
oblique, backwards and downwards, is slightly convex and unites 
with the preceding. The anterior border, oblique in the same 
direction, is more intimately united to the anterior lateral liga- 
ment of the articulation and can be separated from it only by arti- 
tieial dissection. It sends upon this ligament and upon the an- 
terior extensor of the phalanx, a fibrous extension, which unites 
with that of the opposite side. 

[n their structure the fibro-cartilages comprehend a mixtuit; of 



145 

fibrous and cartilaginous tissue, a mixture which is far from being 
homogenous and even in the various parts. The more it is ex- 
amined forwards and near the base, the more its substance is seen 
to resemble that of cartilages proper, being white, flexible, brittle, 
and homogenous. Towards its posterior part it loses its charac- 
ters of homogenity, becomes less brittle and presents in its thick- 
ness a greater amount of fibrous texture. More posteriorly 
again, the fibro-cartilaginous structure is more marked. By 
close attention it seems to show cartilaginous nuclei, isolated, and 
surrounded with an entirely fibrous substance; and again, at its 
posterior extremity it becomes fibro-greasy with much cellular 
tissue and unites with the plantar cushion. The vitality of the 
cartilage is in inverse ratio with its density and consequently is 
greater in its posterior part than towards the base and its anterior 
extremity. This fibro-cartilage may easily and more or less com- 
pletely become ossified ; old horses are those which most com- 
monly present this condition, and draught horses are more subject 
to it than those used to the saddle. It may assume various forms. 
At times it occupies the entire extent of the cartilage, and others 
only at its base ; sometimes the external surface is ossified, while 
the internal remains in its normal structure ; then again the ossi- 
fication exists only anteriorly while the posterior is cartilaginous, 
and it more rarely happens that the process consists in bony 
lamellae, which, starting from the base, spread towards various 
points of its circumference. 

These fibro-cartilages are generally more developed in the 
anterior than the posterior extremities. They also present, in 
one foot, this slight difference, that the internal stands a little 
higher than the external. 

Cartilaginous quittor is a serious affection characterized by 
the partial caries of one of the fibro-cartilages ; it is a partial 
gangrene whose character is to slowly spread into the cartilaginous 
structure upon wliich it starts. To be treated with success it 
requires a very regular attendance, and often an operation, which 
consists in the removal of the cartilage. Sometimes this oper- 
tion is indispensable, and its study is interesting, especially be- 
cause, though not as commonly performed as at the beginning of 



146 

this century, it is one which requires a high degree of surgical 
skill for its success. 

I. — Symptoms. — A division has been made of an acute and a 
chronic form of this disease. Under the first name, is considered 
the earlier period of the affection, that in which there is inflam- 
mation of the cartilage and painful swelling of the part, and 
when the caries or necrosis of the fibro-cartilage is not yet estab- 
lished; or if there is a wound, when it does not yet granulate, 
and the suppuration, if it exists, is very slight. Chronic javart 
would be that in which the partial and progressive mortification 
of the fibro-cartilage exists; for, as Renault has said, it is the 
ordinary termination of fibro-chondritis. 

When free from serious complication, the disease is generally 
accompanied with but little lameness ; sometimes there is almost 
none, and animals can be kept at work, especially at a slow gait ; 
but if made to trot, the horse will show lameness. It is especially 
when the quittor exists in the posterior parts, that the inflamma- 
tion and the pain are not excessive, because there is there an 
abundance of soft, fatty tissue. But when the caries is more 
forward, and is situated more deeply, in a point nearer the ar- 
ticular surfaces, the lesion then affects the fiUrous tissues, and 
the pain is greater. It is sometimes excessively acute. 

Upon the lateral part of the coronet, towards the heels or the 
quarters, a more or less developed tumefaction appears, more or 
less painful, according to the duration of the disease, and in this 
case more or less indurated. In the centre there exists a granu- 
lating fistulous wound. There are one or several fistulse, whose 
openings shows granulations, bleeding easily, their course al- 
ways forward, running at times in straight lines, at others ir- 
regularly. The tracts frequently communicate, and discharge a 
granular, serous and thin pus, of pale greyish color, generally 
odorless, or slightly sanious, containing greenish particles, which 
are but pieces of diseased fibro-cartilage. This pus dries up on 
the surface and adheres to the hoof and to the hairs, and some 
times irritates the surface of the skin. If one of these fistula 
become cicatrized, a fluctuating tumor soon appears, close to it, 
which rapidly ulcerates, and then gives rise to another fistula. 



147 

If the disease is quite old, the hoof of the quarter corresponding 
to the necrosed cartilage, loses its perioplic band, becoming 
rough, ramy and craaked, and the wall is thickened, because the 
irritation of the coronary band has stimulated its growth. This 
change in the condition of tlie wall varies with the length of 
time the disease has existed, and consequently, it indicates its 
duration quite accurately, when one remembers that the hoof 
grows downwards about one centimeter in each month. 

When cartilaginous qnittor is the sequelae or complication of 
suppurative corn ; of a punctured wound by a nail of the shoe ; 
or any other affection of the foot, the symptoms proper to these 
diseases are first observed, though the lameness is greater, and 
the fistulae of the quittor is evident. Often, however, this, in- 
stead of being external and on the coronet, is situated at the in- 
ferior part of the foot, at the internal face of the inferior border 
of the wall, upon the sole, and sometimes connected with the 
wound of some of those affections of the foot. 

II. — Pathological Anatomy. — When one examines the cartil- 
age affected with the necrosis proper of quittor, he always finds 
lesions in proportion to the intensity and the age of the dis- 
ease. It is seldom, however, that the portions of the cartilage 
which have undergone the green degeneration, constituting the 
caries, reaches more than one centimeter in extent ; they have 
the form of a small plate, of a green color, ordinarily elongated, 
and adherent to the healthy parts of the cartilage by one of its 
extremities, that which is more forward and the deepest. Others 
have compared it to the green growth of a seed in germination. 
The points of the fibro-cartilage which are in immediate contact 
with the carious portion, have also a slight, pale greenish hue. 
These are already diseased ; there is already a beginning of 
necrosis ; in the remainder of its extent this exfoliation is sep- 
arated from the cartilage by a reddish, soft tissue, which also 
lines the inside of the fistulous tract. This fistula, which extends 
from the necrosed spot to the skin, is but the hollow tract left 
by the diseased process upon the cartilage, while gradually de- 
stroying its substance. Always lined with a pseudo-mucous 
membrane, by a true pyogenic apparatus, the fistula, is often 



148 

narrow, sinuous, irregular in its course and in its extent, es- 
pecially if the disease is of some standing. 

Renault, and after him Lafosse, have mentioned a special al- 
teration of the fibro-cartilage which is sometimes met, and which 
Lafosse looks upon as a step towards recovery. It is a softening 
of the tissue, anatomically characterized by a loss of the con- 
sistency of the cartilage, resembling the case of the cellular 
tissue becoming indurated, or that of bones deprived of their 
earthy salts after soaking in weak acids ; its yellowish color is 
then characteristic. It may be noticed during life, and is recog- 
nized by a softening in the region of the cartilage, which then 
yields, giving easily to the pressure of the finger. Besides this, 
a probe introduced into the fistulous tract readily penetrates 
into the softened substance. But the true way to diagnosticate 
this change consists in raising the coronary band or after thin- 
ning the wall; then one will see and may feel the true nature of 
the transformation. Lafosse adds that, in presence of this altera- 
tion, the removal of the cartilage is no more necessary, for then 
the cicatrization is readily obtained by stimulating the sloughing 
of the necrosed tissue or by removing it. 

With cartilaginous quitter there is always plastic infiltration of 
the cellular tissue surrounding the cartilage. Very often the 
wall of the synovial capsula of the articulation of the foot is 
somewhat thickened, and in that case there is less risk of injuring 
it during the operation. — (Key.) 

III. — Progress^ Duration and Termination. — Left to itself, 
the caries of the fibro-cartilage may last for a long time, through 
difliculty in determining its true nature. Spontaneous cure, how- 
ever, is not impossible, as Renault proved it, and as many prac- 
titioners have seen it, especially in young and healthy subjects, 
when the disease is mild at its onset and affects parts of the or- 
gans where the fibrous element predominates, as in the posterior 
portion of the cartilage. This fortunate result follows the 
sloughing of the " bourbillon " which makes its appearance under 
the shape of a greenish particle. 

But, ordinarily, the disease progresses slowly, destroying the 
cartilage by degrees, and the diseased process ceases only when 



149 

the caries has reached the ligament of the joint, which it some- 
times also attacks. The tissue of the fibro-cartilages has not the 
force of reaction possessed by other inflamed structures, and 
which is so well marked in cellular tissue. A process of suppura- 
tion, such as rapidly eliminates the mortiiied structure, cannot 
very readily take place in it, and when by natural forces the 
carious spot is eliminated, and pushed outwards, the surroimding 
tissues are most commonly already affected. These undergo the 
same alterations, are eliminated in the same manner, and so until 
the entire cartilage is destroyed. This process of caries by rep- 
tation may last a year. 

In its progressive stage, the disease may spread to surrounding 
parts, such as the os pedis, the plantar aponeurosis, the ligament 
of the joint, or the sesamoid sheath, all of which may become 
the seat of inflammation. They are diagnosticated by the greater 
pain and more marked lameness, symptoms which are compara- 
tively light in the simple necrosis of the cartilage. 

Finally, as a possible complication of cartilaginous quittor, 
one may observe an entire emaciation of the animal, an altera- 
tion of the fluids due to a putrid or purulent infection ; some au- 
thors claim to have even seen glanders and farcy follow it ; this 
is inadmissible. 

lY. — Diagnosis. — Cartilaginous quittor is recognized only 
when there is a wound from which escapes the product of the 
suppuration and of the necrosis. This pus has nothing charac- 
teristic, notwithstanding what has been said. If it is thinner 
than that of a simple solution of continuity of the region, or that 
of simple quittor ; if it is less foetid than that of bony caries ; it 
has, however, of itself some special characters, varying according 
to the subject and the degree of the disease, and especially re- 
sembling much that of sub-horny quittor. If the escape of the 
pus is slow, and it is desired to carefully examine it, a simple pad 
of oakum, kept by a few turns of bandages oa the fistulous 
opening, will, when removed, give a sufticient opportunity to 
recognize its nature. 

The probing will often assist in distinguishing the cartilagi- 
nous from the simple or sub-horny quittors. In these last, the 



160 

fistula is less profound, and does not reach the thickness of the 
cartilage ; but, as in cartilaginous disease, the fistula is often 
sinuous, it is better to use a soft, flexible instrument, such as a 
fine probe made of lead. The injection of liquid may take the 
place of the probing ; injected in a superficial tract, it returns 
outwards directly, while in deeper and irregular fistulas, it will 
penetrate more readily. The induration of the coronet, the 
rough and ramy appearance of the hoof of the quarter corre- 
sponding to the fistula, indicate generally a necrosis of the 
fibro-cartilage ; these characters are missing in the furuncle. 

V. — Prognosis. — In consequence of the tenacity of the dis- 
ease, this form of quittor is always serious ; though this gravity 
has, in our days, greatly diminished, on account of the means of 
treatment now in use, which were unknown some thirty years 
ago. Now, this affection, which was considered by all hippiatres 
as almost incurable, and which more recently was treated by an 
operation which rendered the animal unfit for work for several 
months, can in the majority of cases be cured in about fifteen 
days. 

The prognosis, however, varies and depends on the complica- 
tion. When there is caries of the ligaments, inflammation of the 
articulation of the foot, or of the sesamoid sheath, the extirpation 
of the cartilage itself, done with the greatest dexterity, is not 
even a warranty of recovery. It remedies only the necrosis of 
the cartilage, but leaves the other diseased processes to progress 
in such a manner that the animal remains worthless if he has not 
to succumb to them. The pain is, besides the other signs, one of 
the most important points to consider: very acute, it is generally 
a discouraging omen, and points to the existence of serious com- 
plications. 

VI. — Etiology. — Heavy draught horses are more frequently 
affected, on account of their peculiar work. The most common 
cause is a bruise, a blow, a burn, a prick, any wound exposing 
the cartilage; it is most common on horses drawing trucks loaded 
with stones, which may drop on their feet and crush the fibro-car- 
tilage. The same cause exists for horses working in extensive 
works of buildings ; in the construction of railroads ; and in 
the shops of mechanic construction. 



151 

Owing to these conditions it is also more common in large 
cities than in the country, and more frequent in stony and tem- 
porary roads than in those which are smooth and flat. Flat feet, 
with low heels, are more exposed than others, as well as those 
whose hoofs are soft. Qnittor is more frequent in the fore than 
the hind feet, the fibro-cartilages of the fore feet being more de- 
veloped and more flexible, and because their heels are generally 
lower than in the hind legs. In some, it is more common on the 
internal than the external quarters, while with us, it has been the 
contrary. 

It is often a complication of suppurative corn ; of punctured 
wound of the foot, of canker, of simple and sub-horny quittor, 
of grease, etc., which are then the determining causes of the 
disease. 

YII. — Treatment. — When the disease is recent and the quit- 
tor acute, and antiphlogistic treatment may be attempted and 
resolution looked for, baths and emollients are generally bene- 
ficial. A good blister has sometimes proved advantageous, and 
when it is used limited suppuration, with the formation of a sim- 
ple slough, may take place. 

If necrosis is well established, it is an indication of the neces- 
sity of a recourse to more energetic treatment, in which case 
several measures are recommended, including the actual and 
potential cautery and the removal of the cartilage. 

In actual cauterization the necrosed spot is destroyed by a 
cautery brought to a white heat, applied directly upon it, after it 
has been exposed by a free incision. It is a simple treatment, 
and one that has been successful in cases of posterior necrosis 
where much fibrous tissue was diseased, and principally in young 
and well-conditioned animals (Lafosse, Sr., Girard, Vatel, Mangin, 
Kenault). Still, this treatment not only often fails, but may even 
become a means of irritation of the fibro-cartilage, and cause an 
extension of the necrosis. (Hurtrel, D'Arboval, Lafosse.) h\ 
our day this treatment is almost entirely ignored by good prac- 
titioners, and the potential cautery more generally adopted. 

This had already been employed by hippiatrics. Solleysel prin- 
cipally recommended the use of corrosive sublimate mixed witli 



152 

aloes; Girard, Barreyre and Bernard also mentioning it. English 
veterinarians recommend their nse very strongly. (White, Blaine, 
Riding, etc.) These practitioners all used the solid caustic, 
either in the form of trochisc or in powder, and if they obtained 
good results it required a much longer time than that required in 
our day by the use of the liquid forms of caustic which are at our 
command. With the solid form the action was of limited extent, 
and scarcely more effective than that obtained by the actual cau- 
tery ; moreover, they frequently injured the healthy structures 
by irritating them and increasing the inflammation, and thus re- 
sulting in serious complications. 

As we have said, liquid caustics are largely used to arrest the 
spread of the caries; they modify the process of decomposition, 
dry up the suppuration and stimulate the tissues without injuring 
the healthy structures. This mode of treatment must be credited 
to Mariage, who in 1847 established the unfailing efficacy of re- 
peated injections of Villate's solution ; one of sulphate of copper 
and sulphate of zinc, 64 grammes of each in 1 liter of vinegar, 
and decomposed by 125 grammes of Goulard's extract. It is 
really simply a solution in vinegar of acetate of copper and zinc, 
holding sulphate of lead in suspension. Villate himself had 
already used his solution with success by injecting it in cartilagin- 
ous quitter as early as 1829, since which time Burgniet, Verrier, 
Sr., Collignon and others have recognized the benelit of liquid 
escharotics in the treatment of the same disease. Villate's Solu- 
tion is not a specific, and cartilaginous quitter has been cured by 
the injection of tincture of sublimate (10, p. 100), with solution of 
nitrate of silver (Bernard), with the perchloride of iron, chloride 
of copper,sulphate of copper and zinc, nitrate of lead, moie or 
less concentrated mineral acids, and especially the rabel water 
(Collignon). 

It is difficult to say which is the more useful of these drugs 
and which has been most successful. Success has also been ob- 
tained with injections of tincture of iodine, phenic acid and even 
petroleum. It is less the nature of the drug that insures the effect 
than the mode of using it. We ought also to say that, advantageous 
as this mode of treatment is, it is not infallible, though Mariage 



153 

and others so consider it. It is not to be preferred to the extir- 
pation of the cartilage, an operation which proves successful when 
all other means have failed. 

To obtain a cure by the use of liquid applications it is essen- 
tial to make injections every day, and even several times daily. 
These are made with a syringe, carefully adapted in respect to 
size, with a small canula. The iujection must be pushed well in, 
but must be allowed to escape freely after coming in contact with 
all the diseased surfaces which it is designed to modify. To effect 
this it becomes necessary, as the fistulas are sometimes very narrow, 
and even irregular, to enlarge them, or to make counter openings. 
Mariage had originally insisted that these precautions were essen- 
tial to the success of the treatment. H. Bouley and Viseur also 
strongly insisted upon the same point, viz., that of enlarging the 
fistula in order that tlie liquid should not be allowed to remain 
at the bottom of the fistulous tracts, by which all possibility of 
the extension of the disease from that cause might be avoided. 
These enlargements of the fistulas, or counter openings, close, 
however, very rapidly ; as a remedy to which, Hivernat has sug- 
gested the introduction into the tracts of little wedges of wood 
pointed like pencils, for the purpose of lacerating the walls of the 
fistula, followed by the insertion in them of small setons moist- 
ened with Villate's solution. Guerrapain introduced a fine meche 
of oakum, a seton in the tract, by means of a curved needle. If 
the fistula runs downward its bottom is under the wall, and he 
thins this down and makes a counter opening through the hoof 
thus thinned. This seton prevents the closing of the counter 
openings, and enables the operator to push through the injection 
regularly. 

Other precautions are also necessary. One, especially, is rest. 
The animal must not be put to work. Lafosse says that these 
liquid caustics act with regularity and cure with certainty. A 
bar shoe, not pressing on the diseased quarter, is also useful. 
Emollient poultices are sometimes necessary, after the injection, 
to diminish the irritation. Mariage also recommends them. If 
the fistula extends under the coronary band, or the podophyllous 
tissue, it becomes necessary to thin, or to remove altogether, the 
hoof of the diseased quarter. 



154 

After fifteen days of this treatment, the exfoliation often takes 
place, and recovery follows. Often, however, twice this length 
of time is necessary. After the fii-st eight days the pus becomes 
more abundant, white, and laudable ; the tumor softens and di- 
minishes, as the pain subsides. Later, the injections penetrate 
with greater difficulty, which is a good sign. The injections con- 
stantly attack the germ of the disease and leave it without chance 
to re-form or to spread ; the gangrenous structure which devel- 
opes in the cartilage is changed into an inert substance ; the pyo- 
genic membrane of the fistulous tract is stimulated ; the process 
of granulation becomes more rapid ; the wound becomes more and 
more healthy, and the diseased process ceases. If, however, it 
continues, the wound changes its character; large granulations 
develop themselves, and on their center, the openings of the fis- 
tulous tracts, which open on the cartilage, make their appearance. 
At times the wound closes ; but, after a short interval opens 
again, or another forms at another point. There is then a repe- 
tition of the same course of treatment by caustic applications, — 
but generally, this indicates a complication, and suggests the pro- 
priety of an operation. The injections are generally successful, 
however, and most certainly so if the caries occupies the poste- 
rior parts of the cartilage. They may even succeed in the ante- 
rior parts, when the animal is young and of good constitution. 
But if the cartilage has already become partly ossified, the caustic 
is irregular in its action, and the result becomes doubtful. If the 
caries is deep and extensive, and especially if the necrosis extends 
through and through to a point corresponding to the synovial 
capsule of the articulation of the last phalanx ; or if the necrosis 
exists on the internal face of the cartilage, where it covers that 
structure, then the repeated injections of Villate's, or of any other 
caustic, may be followed by serious complications. An old or 
complicated caries will oifer an increased resistance to the treat- 
ment by liquid caustics, in proportion as there is more or less 
difficulty in bringing them in direct contact with the necrotic 
points. 

The third method of treatment. is that of the removal of the 
cartilage. This operation, first recommended by Lafosse, senior, 



155 

in 1754, was often performed by his son, and may be considered 
one of the most valuable results of the application of anatomical 
knowledge to the practice of veterinary surgery. This operation 
was also performed by Bourgelat and his students, by Girard, 
Hurtrel Darboval, and was principally studied and described by 
Renault. In Germany, notwithstanding the writings of Lan- 
genbacher, Dieterichs, and Hertwig, it did not meet with ap- 
proval, and English veterinaries seldom, if ever, resorted to it. 
At present, even in France, it is seldom performed, except in 
case of failure by the caustic injection treatment, and this is often 
the case where the disease is situated in the anterior part of the 
fibro-cartilage, where the cartilaginous tissue predominates, or 
where the vitality is diminished, and above all, where ossification 
has taken place. It is an operation of the greatest delicacy, and 
accompanied with great risks on account of the proximity of the 
joint of the foot, and it requires an experienced operator and 
thorough practitioner to justify a hope of successful results. It 
consists in the excision, by layers, of the diseased cartilage, and in 
avoiding injury to the coronary band and to the podophyllous 
tissue, which arc essential elements of the organization of the 
foot. It is also essential to avoid injury of the lateral ligament 
of the foot joint, which is close to the cartilage, and above all, 
of the synovial capsule of the joint, which is directly covered by 
the cartilage. The partial or entire extirpation of the cartilage 
can be performed. In the first case, only a portion of the ne- 
crosed fibro-cartilage is removed. Vatel, Sanstas, Renault, Bell 
and Lafosse have reported many cases of recovery by this mode 
of operation ; but, it is not likely to be thorouglily successful, 
unless in circumstances as favorable as those accompanying the 
treatment by liquid caustics. It is generally much better when 
the operation is decided upon, to perform it by excising the en- 
tire structure, and removing all the carious elements. The par- 
tial removal is to-day entirely abandoned, and entire extirpation 
accepted as the true and only operative procedure. The best 
method of performing it is that recommended by Renault and 
adopted in our colleges. W§ shall make it the subject of descrip- 
tion with all necessary details, and with various modifications as 



156 

performed by other practitioners ; we shall also offer some obser- 
vations upon various other modes of performing the operation 
in question. 

The operation includes two principal steps : first, the removal 
of the part, or the whole, of the wall corresponding to the 
diseased cartilage ; and second, the extirpation of the cartilage 
itself. The opinions of surgeons vary as to the amount of hoof 
which should be removed, and the extent of horny tissue to be 
taken off. In respect to the length of the superior border of the 
portion requiring removal, it is generally agreed that it must 
extend from the anterior extremity of the cartilage backward, 
that is, the two posterior thirds of the space reaching from the 
toe to the heels, or one-third of the circumference at the coronary 
band. But opinion continues divided as to the lower border. 
Lafosse, Senior, left it longer than the superior, and made the 
direction of the division of the groove correspond to that of 
the fibres of the lioof. Lafosse, Junior, accepting the idea 
of Solleysel and of Dieterichs, did not reach the sole with its 
groove, and removed only a portion of hoof parallel to the 
coronary band. Renault prefers crossing tlie fibres of the hoof 
with the groove, and brings the lower end of it to one-half the 
dimensions of the upper border, its groove running backwards. 
Key considers that to be running too far back and too near the 
heel, and recommends the groove to be so made that the lower 
border -will have the same length as the upper, and for that 
reason advises that it be as nearly parallel as possible with the 
line of the heels. Lafosse, Senior, removes [too large a portion 
of the hoof. Lafosse, Jr., leaves a portion of hoof whicli not 
only is useless, but which interferes with certain steps of the 
operation, when with the double sage knife, the skin is separated 
from the external surface of the cartilage, and also, when this is 
removed ; and again, there is a separation between the severed 
portions of the quarters much greater than occurs in the process 
of Renault, which, like that of Rey, exposes the entire cartilage, 
and greatly facilitates the operation. 

It is to be understood that the foot has been prepared ; that 
the hairs have been clipped over the skin covering the cartilage ; 



157 

that the sole has been pared thin, down to the blood, as well as 
the bar corresponding to the diseased cartilage, so that the quarter 
has been allowed to project below the sole, to facilitate its 
eversion. The foot has been, moreover, well prepared by two or 
three days of poulticing, to render the hoof easier to be cut by 
tlie instrument, and the operation easier to perform, and therefore 
shorter in its various steps, besides placing the patient in the best 
condition for the endurance of so serious an operation. 

After casting the animal upon a good bed, and fixing the feet, 
placing a temporary tremoslater with a stiong cord, similar to a 
tourinquet, around the coronet, a groove is made, using various 
sized drawing knives, running from the anterior angle of the 
lower border of the cartilage downwards to the sole, following 
the direction recommended by Lafosse, Senior, Rey or Renault. 
This groove, made first witli the widest, and finished with the 
narrowest of the drawing knives, must not touch the podophyll- 
ous tissue, and still must run through tlie entire thickness of the 
wall, without producing hemorrhage. In this step of the opera- 
tion, as Girard correctly observes, short cuts of the knife are 
always better and quicker than those made by scraping or drag- 
ging with the instrument. It is also important to come down to 
the soft tissue at the coronary band first, and successively down- 
wards to the inferior border of the wall, as otherwise, as tlie in- 
strument is moved from above downwards, with a certain amount 
of force, it might slip and cause a serious division or laceration of 
the podophyllous tissue. The separation is then made of tlie 
wall from the sole by another groove, extending from the end of 
the groove already made, on the quarter, back to the heels. This 
is done without difficulty, with a small drawing knife, when the 
foot has been properly prepared. There is, however, one point 
which usually offers more or less resistance when the quarter is 
removed. It is that where the wall is continued to the bars. 
This resistance is sometimes so considerable, that if much trac- 
tion is made, the wall will break more or less in front of the 
heels, where it is comparatively thin, and it may consequently 'be- 
come neccessary to remove, by itself, the portion which has re- 
mained attached. This little accident, however, can be avoided by 



158 

ascertaining certainly before the extraction of the wall is effected, 
that the continuity of the wall and bars has been cut off. This 
being the case, the complete separation of the wall from the sole 
is made by running the sharp edges of the double sage knife 
through the structure of the living tissue underneath. The re- 
traction of the quarter can then be proceeded with. 

For this purpose a properly constructed lever is carefully in- 
troduced into tlio groove before mentioned, at the wall and sole 
of the foot. The inferior and anterior angle of the hoof at this 
point being then carefully raised, an assistant grasps it with the 
nippers, turning it back, tears it slowly, while the surgeon, with 
such a motion of the lever as may be necessary, assists in the 
tearing off of the portion of the quarter requiring removal. If. 
adhesions remain, interfering with this manipulation, they are 
removed by cutting with a sharp instrument. As this separation 
of the wall reaches about to the coronary band, the separation is 
very easy, and no fear of lacerating the soft structures need be 
entertained. Care is necessary at this step, however, to avoid 
injuring the coronary band and the podophyllous tissue ; to pre- 
vent which it will be prudent on the part of the assistant to press 
upon the band as the separation takes place. 

This being accomplished, the edges of the wound are care- 
fully examined ; any projections remaining are removed, and the 
blood is sponged off. The double sage knife is then carefully 
plunged, with tlie convexity turned upward, (that is, towards the 
skin) between the external surface of the cartilage and the inter- 
nal face of the skin, below the border of the coronary band, and 
then carried forward and backward, or as required, until the 
separation between the skin and the cartilage is completed, and 
the entire external surface of the cartilage is exposed. In mov- 
ing the instrument backwards, it is necessary to be very cautious, 
especially while carrying the sharp edges downwards and inwards, 
in order to avoid injury to the coronary band and the skin, of 
which, however, there can be but little danger, when the knife is 
carefully held and properly directed. The succeeding step is to 
separate the skin from the cartilage ; it is to be carefully raised 
and separated from its attachments underneath, which is some- 



159 

times a process quite difficult to accomplish, as the skin has 
always become more or less tumefied, and therefore has lost much 
of its natural flexibility and suppleness. Some operators, in 
order to avoid these difficulties, and overlooking the functions of 
the coronary band, cut it and remove it, with those portions of 
the skin which cover the cartilage. Others, more conservative, 
(Herting for example) cut it only through the middle, until they 
reach the superior border of the cartilage, and then, raising the 
two flaps of the skin, accomplish the same result with less cutting. 

The destruction of the principal organ of the secretions of 
the hoof having been involved in the first method, and having 
now taken place, it can never be restored to a healthy condition, 
and the animal continues to be exposed to the frequently serious 
complications of " false quarter." By the second method, the 
production of a new wall is nearly always accompanied with the 
formation of a " quarter crack." The recovery is slow in either 
case, and more or less deformity is likely to follow. It is, then, 
the better and wiser plan to employ the mode of separation of 
the skin from below, and to avoid the division of the coronary 
bands or of the teguments. 

The next step is the removal of the cartilage altogether. This 
is done with the single sage knife, held firmly in the hand, either 
the left or the right, always, however, that corresponding to the 
side of the heel to be operated upon. Taking a point of rest 
with -the flat of the thumb upon the plantar surface of the foot, 
the instrument is pushed between the skin and the cartilage, and 
the sharp edge turned backwards, with a firm rotary motion, 
downwards and forwards. The detached portion of cartilage is 
than seized with a pair of bull-dog forceps, and brought out- 
wards, and the sage knife is brought forwards, downwards and 
outwards, from under the cartilage. It is a good plan, in order 
to make more room for working, to raise the skin and coronary 
band with a blunt tenaculum. The operation should always be 
commenced at the posterior part, in order to avoid the articular 
synovial capsules, which might be opened if the removal of the 
cartilage were begun forward. As the operator reaches the 
anterior part of the cartilage, which is situated almost over this 



160 

capsule, it is prudent to hold the foot in excessive extension and 
thus avoid injury to the capsule. This is an important point to 
consider in the operation. The sharp instrument being carefully 
handled, every portion of the cartilage is taken off, either at 
once or by layers successively, until the whole is removed. It is 
thus accomplished in three or four pieces. In some instances the 
anterior portion is cut off by a longitudinal incision, made with 
a straight bistoury, following the direction of the posterior face 
of the coronet; the object, in this case, being simply to render 
the operation easier. The cartilage is thus remored, great care 
being taken to avoid opening the capsular articular bursse. It is 
essentially necessary to remove the whole of the diseased tissues, 
in order to bring the parts into the condition of a simple wound. 
Still there need be no alarm if some small portions remain, more 
fibrous than cartilaginous, which, deep as they are, may protect 
the synovial capsules or the ligament ; and moreover, they often 
slough off by themselves, with the abundant suppuration which 
follows. 

To operate with the greater facility, it is well to have two 
forms of sage knife, one right and one left-handed, and some of 
extra strength, with which to remove the larger particles of 
cartilage, the others being small, thin and light, being adapted to 
the more careful dissection necessary towards the lateral liga- 
ment, and about the synovial bursse of the joint. 

Towards the end of the operation, the surgeon will, with the 
finger, carefully explore the condition of the parts, to assure 
himself that tlie cartilage is entirely removed ; that the articular 
synovial sac has been preserved intact; that the ligament of the 
joint remains perfect ; and that the parts are well washed and 
ready for the dressings. Although in the absence of possible 
complications, the operation is now finished, it may yet be 
followed by some serious sequelae, which we will next consider. 

The operation may become complicated by a variety of attend- 
ant and accessory circumstances. Among these are, the opening 
of the articular capsules; the wounding of the anterior lateral 
ligament of the articulation; the ossification of the fibro-carti- 
lage ; caries of the os pedis ; and the alteration of the coronary 
band and of the reticular tissue. 



161 

The opening of the articular capsule^ either during the opera- 
tion, or by ulcerative process, is not so serious au accident as it 
was originally thought to be. Still, however, it requires some 
attention. It only become dangerous when the ulceration is 
accompanied by serious disorganization, and especially when it 
is associated with purulent arthritis. (Renault, Hurtrel, D'Ai'- 
boval, Bernard). It is treated by simple pressure, camphorated 
paste, a little corrosive sublimate mixed with starch, or better, 
with Egyptiacum ointment. 

The wound of the ligaments has also been considered a very 
serious accident, which, according to Girard, cripples an animal 
permanently. But Lafosse thinks this an exaggerated notion, 
and claims to have witnessed the radical recovery of animals 
after the necrosis and sloughing of the ligament. 

If ossification of the cartilage is discovered during the ope- 
ration, the removal of all the unossified portion is first proceeded 
with, in order to prevent a recurrence of the disease. The extir- 
pation of the osteo cartilaginous portion is then effected either 
with a small drawing knife, or the gouge, or the bone forceps. 
The removal is made as far as the ossification is found to be com- 
plete, the operator making sure that every portion of cartilage is 
thoroughly destroyed. If the ossification is but partial or irregu- 
lar, the surgeon must be guided by the condition of the parts. 
When the entire cartilage has undergone ossification, its suscepti- 
bility to caries has ceased. 

When caries of the os pedis exists, the part must be destroyed 
with the sage knife, the gouge, or the chisel, according to the 
existing conditions. But in this case, portions of the reticular 
structure require removal, of which, however, as little as possi- 
ble should be destroyed. 

It may happen that the portion of the coronary hand covering 
the cartilage may be destroyed., either wholly or in part, either 
as an effect of the disease, or by accident during the operation. 
In the first case, if the entire band has been destroyed, there is 
nothing to be done. But in the other case, if any portions of it 
remain, care must be taken to insure their preservation, as they 
may supply the necessary elements for a new, healthy secretion 



162 

of hoof, and the quarter may grow again, more solid and less de- 
formed. If the wound of the coronary band consists merely in 
a simple division of limited extent, the wisest course will be to 
attempt to obtain union by immediate adliesion, or first intention, 
by bringing the edges of the incision together and maintaining 
,the contact by careful dressing. When the alteration of the 
reticular tissue alone, is present, it is very essential to avoid the 
excision of the injured laminae. It is, in fact, the better course 
to avoid wholly the use of sharp instruments, and to leave to the 
natural process of suppuration the removal of the disorganized 
parts. Kenault having observed how their removal interfered 
with the reparative process, has often left them undisturbed, 
even when their dark color and softened condition indicated the 
smallness of their chance of conservation. The success of the 
operation after a first dressing, lias shown the wisdom of the 
plan of non-interference ; they were found covered with a new 
layer of yellowish hoof ; and D'Arboval has on several occasions 
observed the same results. 

The dressing must be methodically and carefully applied. 
Done well, a dressing greatly assists in the recovery, while many, 
when badly performed, have been the cause of serious complica- 
tions, which have greatly hindered the repairing process, and 
often, indeed, rendered a disease incurable, which need not to 
hare been beyond remedy. In the application of the dressing, 
two points are important to consider ; first, we must dress the sub- 
cutaneous wound, resulting from the separation of the skin and 
the extraction of the fibro-cartilage ; the other, that of the 
sub-horny wound, produced by the removal of the portion of the 
quarter. Both are important, but the second requires the greater 
care, and is more difficult and more important than the former ; 
any excess in the sanguineous cii'culation must be prevented, 
and excessive granulations must be kept under control. The 
dressing, then, must be somewhat compressive, without being 
excessively rigid, in order to obviate possible danger of excessive 
inflammation ; not too loose [and so soft as to allow hemorrhage, 
or the undue proliferation of granulations. It must be both sup- 
ple and firm, and of an even and uniform pressure. The proper 



163 

material is balls of oakmn for the subcutaneous wound, and pads 
of the same material for the sub-horny, the first being moistened 
with alcohol, while the others are made dry. 

It is in question whether we should aim to obtain immediate 
adhesive union of the wound resulting from tlie removal of the 
cartihige, or in other words, whether it is good treatment to in- 
troduce some material of dressing between the skin and the bot- 
tom of the wound. Here opinions vary. Our belief is, that this 
union is by no means easy to secure ; and that the removal of 
the cartilage, more or less altered, prevents it at various points. 
Still, we must not raise the skin too much, and choosing a middle 
course between, ouly a small soft ball of oakum is now placed in 
the deepest part of the wound, or a thin pad is placed between 
the two parts, sufficient to represent about the natural form of 
the part, being enougli, however, to prevent the immediate re- 
union from taking place. 

A light thin shoe having been prepared, adapted to assist the 
application of the dressing and its holding properly, it is put on 
with one of its branches cut off short on the side where the 
operation has been performed, while the other branch projects 
backwards beyond the heel, to support the rollers of the bandage 
of the dressing. Desplas had thought to turn up that long 
branch of the shoe in the shape of a hook to assist in holding 
the dressings. This is generally useless. Some veterinarians 
prefer to leave the animal unshod, but in that case, the band- 
age is more likely to slip off. The shoe must be put on wliile 
the animal is down, and before the application of the dressing. 
With some practitioners, that is the moment for the removal of 
the tourniquet or corJ, which had been applied at the beginning 
of the operation in order to prevent the bleeding. This is an 
unnecessary precaution, and onl}'^ renders the application of the 
dressing more difficult. First, balls of oakum are placed over the 
coronary band, then, upon tlie points of union of the preserved 
wall and of the podophyllous tissue, and then all over the wound. 
We must endeavor, as Renault says, to give the dressing a cylin- 
drical form, or rather, according to Rey, hemispherical, after 
which the whole is covered with pads and rollers. These must 



164 

be put on in abundance, the rollers passino; abpve the branch of 
the shoe on the sound side, and running successively from above 
downwards, and generally from Ijefore backwards. Flat feet 
require special care in dressing, and the fore-feet are generally 
more difficult to dress than the Innder. When all is finished, the 
animal has to be watched for several days. Ordinarily, after the 
operation, there is abundant hemorrhage, occurring within some 
fifteen minutes, and oozing through the dressings. This requires 
no special attention, and generally ceases spontaneously, or by 
the pressure of the dressing, or by the use of the cold bath. If 
the dressing seems to be too tight, and the animal shows signs of 
acute pain, with strong reactive fever, it is not therefore neces- 
sary to remove the dressing, but may be sufficient simply to 
loosen the bandage. The animal should be placed in a wide 
stall, or box, if possible, where he may move freely, and lie down 
easily ; and he must be prevented from tearing off tlie dressing 
by the application of a neck cradle. A low diet is necessary for 
several days, in some instances mashes being the only food 
allowed. Still, a good appetite and lively condition are always 
good signs. 

The interval of time which should be allowed to elapse be- 
tween the operation and the removal of the first dressing, should 
be judged by the amount of pain which the animal seems to suf- 
fer; by the temperature of the atmosphere; and by the amount 
of liquid discharge found oozing from the wound and moistening 
the dressing which covers and protects it. Generally, the dress- 
ings should be disturbed as* late and as seldom as possible. Cir- 
cumstances will sometimes occur, however, which necessitate 
their removal earlier, as for example, the extreme heat of the 
weather; the extremely offensive odor proceeding from the dis- 
eased parts ; and a sudden and evident increase of pain in the 
wound, without any known cause. Under these circumstances, 
which however, are of rather infrequent occurrence, it is some- 
times necessary to remove the dressing as early as the third day, 
although at this time, as suppuration is not yet well established, 
the operation is quite painful, and may be accompanied by free 
hemorrhage. But if the weather is not excessively warm ; or if 



166 

the pain is not excessive ; or the dressing remains dry on the out- 
side, and matters seem to be generally in good condition, the bet- 
ter course is to wait from eight to ten days, before tho dressing 
is renewed. Indeed, numerous cases are on record when a still 
longer period has been allowed to elapse, and the re-dressing has 
been deferred to the extent of three weeks, or longer. In any 
event, great caution must be exercised in the removal of the 
dressings, and the surgeon should be careful to have all his ap- 
pliances ready in advance, in order tliat the wound may be ex- 
posed to tlie air for the shortest possible space of time. When 
exposed, the wound should be of ;i red color, with commencing 
granulations, and a temporary hoof, soft and whitish in appear- 
ance, should be visible on the podophyllous tissue. A dressing 
is then applied of tincture of aloes, or a weak solution of iodine. 
At a later period the dressings are changed at intervals of about 
eight days, and an application is made of pulverized sulphate of 
copper, in order to facilitate the drying and hardening of the soft 
hoof. Baths of sulphate of iron, with a small portion of sulphate 
of copper, are of service in promoting and hastening the cicatri- 
zation. 

About the thirtieth or fortieth day after the extirpation of 
the cartilage, the animal may be put to light work. But three or 
four months, if not a longer period, must elapse, before it will be 
safe to task him with heavy labor. Towards the end of the as- 
signed term he should be fitted with a bar shoe, shortened on the 
side where the quittor has existed. If the dressing is skilfully 
applied and proper care is exercised, the diseased foot may bo 
sufficiently protected, and the animal made to resume his work 
with safety. 

In time, the portion of hoof secreted by the coronary band 
unites with that of the podophyllous tissue, and after a few 
months, no remains of the operation are visible. But if the coro- 
nary band has ulcerated ; if the skin has been divided ; if by 
contact of the firing iron, or apphcation of caustics, it has been 
destroyed ; the quarter then presents irregnlarities, and some- 
times divisions, wliich may be of long continuance, and give rise 
to a lameness which may, perhaps, become perm9,nent. This 



166 

danger indicates the necessity of exercising the utmost skill and 
caution in operating, in order to avoid possible injuries to the 
coronary band. 

Several modificatiojis of the ordinary mode of operation liave 
been proposed. Some have had for their principal object, tlie 
prevention of the extraction of the hoof, with a view of thus re- 
turning the animals to their work at the earliest period practica- 
ble. It is thus that Hazard, Junior, proposed to make a crucial 
incision upon the skin covering the fibro-cartilage ; the four flaps 
being [so dissected to expose it, and then removing it with the 
sage knife. In this process, the extirpation of the entire carti- 
lage becomes extremely difficult without inflicting injury upon 
the lateral ligaments and the synovial capsules. 

Pagnier has proposed to merely thin down the quarter, to 
make an incision in the skin along the superior border of the car- 
tilage, and through this to remove the organ. But in this opera- 
tion, however thin the hoof may be, it always interferes with the 
entiVe extirpation of the cartilage. 

Bernard, following the idea of Lafosse, junior, who only re- 
moved the superior border of the wall, proposed a mode of pro- 
ceeding which is principally useful in cases of separation of the 
hoof. Instead of removing the band of hoof parallel with the 
coronary bourulet, Bernard pared it down with the drawing- 
knife, the sage-knife, or the rasp, in order to make it as thin as 
possible, while avoiding the injury to the sensitive laminae. This 
done, an incision is made along the coronary band, below it, de- 
stroying its union with the laminae. At this step of the operation, 
the indications are the same as in the ordinary modus operandi^ 
except that the coronary band being covered with a certain thick- 
ness of hoof, is less flexible. This, however, is easily removed, 
as soon as it becomes softened. The remaining steps of the op- 
eration are the same as in the ordinary, old wa3^ That is to say, 
the posterior part of the. cartilage being well defined, the sage- 
knife is used in the same manner. In this method, however, as 
the sage-knife works more flat-wise, there is less danger of 
wounding the ligaments or the synovial capsules. If any part of 
the cartilage remains near these organs, some care nmst be used 



167 

in removing it, and it must be done by degrees, and in very small 
portions. 

The advantages of this process are, 1st, the avoidance of ex- 
tensive wounds, and of the extreme pain produced by the extir- 
pation of the quarter. 2d, to keep the foot shod, and to allow 
the animal to resume his work as soon as the first pain has sub- 
sided, which may occur at quite a considerable interval in ad- 
vance of the perfect cicatrization of the wound. 3d, to avoid long 
and frequently-repeated dressings. 

In this method, however, the quarter left intact sometimes 
interferes with the operation, and the excision of the cartilage is 
rbore difficult, being only practicable, indeed, in cases where 
there is a separation of the wall. 

Maillet has modified the method of Bernard, so that, instead 
of thinning down the band of hoof, he only applies the rasp upon 
the quarter, and thins down with it all that portion which is ex- 
tirpated in the process of Renault, and availing himself also, of 
tlie drawing and sage-knife. The remaining details of the opera- 
tion are like those of the ordinary processes. An objection to 
this mode is that it can be put in practice only in cases where 
there is already a" separation of the wall. It is objectionable 
from its tendency to weaken the foot too mucli, by interfering 
with the firm and solid adjustment of the shoe, as well as retard- 
ing its application to the hoof. 



